Increased Production Facilities Amid Surging Frozen Pizza Demand, Aiming for No.1 with Steady Output Growth in H2
No-Edge Bacon Five Cheese Leads Unprecedented Popularity and Premiumization of Domestic Frozen Cheese Pizzas
[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] Pulmuone, which made waves in the domestic frozen pizza market with its ‘No Edge Pizza,’ has significantly increased production and is embarking on full-scale market expansion.
On the 13th, Pulmuone Foods announced that due to the soaring demand driven by the popularity of its five premium frozen pizza varieties, it will increase frozen pizza production by 50% starting in the second half of the year.
After entering the domestic frozen pizza market last December with the launch of five premium pizzas including the ‘No Edge Fully Topped Pizza,’ Pulmuone quickly rose to second place with a 20.7% market share in the first quarter of this year (based on Nielsen Korea), showing results beyond expectations. Consequently, Pulmuone decided to invest further in production facilities.
Pulmuone’s frozen pizzas, known as ‘a new kind of frozen pizza that didn’t exist before,’ quickly gained popularity through word of mouth, causing demand to surge. As a result, production lines have been operated at full capacity continuously. However, meeting the exploding demand was still insufficient. Starting with this line expansion, Pulmuone plans to steadily increase production capacity to more than double the current output. If production volume is secured, it is expected that Pulmuone could become the number one frozen pizza brand within the year.
The ‘No Edge Fully Topped Pizza’ is a product that breaks the dissatisfaction points consumers have felt about frozen pizzas through a shift in perspective.
Domestic frozen pizzas have long suffered from the drawbacks of ‘hard dough’ and ‘sparse toppings,’ which significantly lowered consumer satisfaction. To improve this, Pulmuone boldly eliminated the ‘edge,’ the floury hard crust that forms on frozen pizza, and covered the dough edge fully with toppings. This ‘soft dough’ and ‘rich toppings’ No Edge Pizza is breaking consumers’ fixed notions about frozen pizza.
Among the No Edge pizzas, the ‘Bacon Five Cheese’ is especially leading in popularity. It accounts for about 31% of Pulmuone’s total frozen pizza sales. Given that cheese pizzas had relatively low prospects for success in the frozen pizza market until now, this is considered a particularly noteworthy achievement.
The No Edge Bacon Five Cheese features a rich blend of five cheeses?cheddar, gouda, mozzarella, provolone, and cream cheese?combined with bacon to create a perfect balance of sweet and salty flavors.
In the past, frozen cheese pizzas were limited to monotonous products like gorgonzola and were largely ignored both in production and consumption. The domestic frozen pizza market was monotonously composed, with basic combination and bulgogi pizzas accounting for about 70% (as of 2019). Since Pulmuone launched the No Edge Bacon Five Cheese, the share of cheese pizzas in the overall frozen pizza market increased from 11.2% (cumulative from January to May 2019) to 17.4% (January to May this year), showing a remarkable growth rate of 96.2%.
Thanks to the popularity of the No Edge Bacon Five Cheese, the domestic frozen pizza market is also accelerating its move toward premium products. The emergence of high-quality premium pizzas is creating a positive effect by broadening consumer choices, making this development significant.
Jegal Ji-yoon, Product Manager of Pulmuone Foods’ FRM (Fresh Ready Meal) division, said, “With the success of the boldly edge-free ‘No Edge Pizza,’ we secured second place immediately upon market entry. Until now, we couldn’t sell more due to limited supply, but with the increased production, sales are expected to rise significantly. If the current trend continues, we can expect to become the number one frozen pizza brand in the second half of the year. We will continue to lead the market.”
Meanwhile, the five types of ‘No Edge Crust Pizza’ are Pulmuone’s first frozen pizza products, developed over two years by introducing the latest pizza manufacturing technologies from pizza-leading countries Italy and the United States, and launched in December 2019.
Within two months of launch, cumulative sales surpassed one million units, and with a 20.7% market share in the first quarter, it quickly rose to second place. Pulmuone initially set a sales target of 15 billion KRW for frozen pizzas this year but raised the target to 30 billion KRW due to unexpectedly strong sales and positive customer feedback.
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