Canada recently has seen popular food products disappear from their shelves for good. Companies such as Little Debbie folded their tents in Canada due to distribution woes. Now Nestlé Canada is winding down its frozen meals and pizza business in Canada over the next six months. In the freezer aisle at Canadian grocery stores, favorite brands such as Delissio, Stouffer’s, Lean Cuisine and Life Cuisine will cease to ship to Canada. These products are made in the United States and shipped to Canada. The added cost of transportation makes the products not profitable in the long run.
“The frozen products are made in the U.S. and shipped north, and it looks like they’re refocusing on the products that are actually made here. It’s an interesting trend, in that we’re seeing sort of a slowing of the movement of food,” –Lenore Newman, director of the Food and Agriculture Institute at the University of the Fraser Valley in B.C.
The frozen pizza section is a very competitive section with Delissio ingredients made in the USA, it does not have a chance against pizza made in Canada. Nestlé Canada will focus on categories such as confectionery, coffee, ice cream, premium water and pet food that support long-term business growth. No manufacturing facilities in Canada will be affected by the fazing out of the popular frozen foods.
Fun Fact: In 2010, Kraft sold the DiGiorno and Delissio brands, along with the rest of its frozen pizza business, to Swiss-based food manufacturer Nestlé.