Norway is known for its unusual ethnic foods like lutefisk (cod preserved in caustic soda) and lefse (like a tortilla, but made from potatoes), but some new statistics suggest the national dish is actually frozen pizza.
The brand introduced in Norway a few decades ago, called Grandiosa, remains stunningly popular among Norwegians. It commands half the market in Norway, where no less than 48 million frozen pizzas are sold every year. That’s roughly 10 times the total population of the country.
The numbers were presented by the company producing Norway’s Pizza Grandiosa, Stabburet, during a recent food festival in Stavanger. Norway’s biggest pizza chain, Peppes, sells around 4 million pizzas a year, of the fresh (not frozen) variety.
One local chef who’s not a big fan of frozen pizza, Sven Erik Renaa, links its popularity to a what he thinks is a misconception that it’s quick and easy to serve.
“I can make a proper dinner in a quarter of the time it takes to warm up the oven and cook a frozen pizza,” Renaa told newspaper Aftenposten.
Views and News staff
