Celeste frozen pizza is done as Conagra trims its brand portfolio

Conagra Brands has stopped making Celeste frozen pizzas, ending production of a budget-friendly freezer staple whose founder, “Mama Celeste,” once pitched it on television.

Chief Executive John Brase described the exit as “one early example” of a broader push to reduce complexity, Baking Business reported after the company disclosed the move Sept. 30.

The decision was a headwind of about 15 basis points, or 0.15 percentage points, to first-quarter net sales, Brase said on the earnings call, although Conagra expects the exit to improve profit margins going forward. Conagra’s overall net sales fell 1.4% to $2.6 billion in the first quarter of fiscal 2027, according to its earnings release.

Asked on the call about brand rationalization, Brase said there are certain brands and categories where Conagra “simply just don’t see a future,” and that it makes sense to exit small, unprofitable ones quickly.

The bigger target is Conagra’s sprawling product list. Brase said the company carries more than 400 single-serve meal stock-keeping units, or SKUs, and sees a “much simpler, more productive assortment” ahead, though he said Conagra isn’t abandoning the category. Most of the benefits from the SKU review are expected over the next 12 to 18 months, he said.

Conagra is also weighing strategic options for certain non-core businesses, Brase said, but he declined to speculate about individual brands.

A Conagra spokesperson told Fox Business that production has ended but that shoppers may find Celeste products until remaining inventory sells out. “We will continue to sell inventory, but we stopped producing it,” the spokesperson said.

News of the exit prompted social media users to share memories of grandmothers’ freezers and the 10-for-$10 pizza sales of the 1990s, Fox Business reported.

The brand traces to Celeste Lizio, who opened her first pizzeria in Chicago in the 1930s and eventually sold her recipes to Quaker Oats, according to Conagra’s Celeste website.

Lizio died in December 1988 at age 80, United Press International reported. The wire service said Quaker Oats acquired her family’s frozen pizza business in 1969 and kept her on as spokeswoman and consultant, and that she was best remembered for exclaiming “abbondanza” in the brand’s television commercials.