Bernatello's Pizza manufactures under its own brands, Bernatello's, Roma and Bellatoria, as well as for select private-label customers.

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Bernatello’s Pizza Inc. delivers high-quality frozen pizzas to its customers, co-owner and Marketing Manager J.J. Halverson notes. In fact, earlier this year, the company expanded its Bellatoria brand to include new products such as flatbreads, garlic cheese bread and bruschetta. In addition, two new varieties are going to be added to the Bellatoria Ultra Thin Pizza line-up – 5 Cheese and Sausage Italia.

Bernatello’s Pizza manufactures under its own brands – Bernatello’s, Roma and Bellatoria – as well as for select private-label customers.

The company thrives on innovation and new product development. “Our goal is to maximize the sales and profit for our retail customers within the allocated freezer space,” Halverson says. “We do this by continuously evaluating our product lines and listening to what our consumers tell us.  We respond with fresh, innovative products that address their needs at a reasonable price.”

She adds that launching the Bellatoria brand in 2007 gave Bernatello’s Pizza an added advantage. “Our niche has always been value-priced pizza offerings with the Roma and Bernatello’s brands,” Halverson states.

“With the addition of the Bellatoria brand, we now compete in the premium segment and have successfully targeted a whole new consumer group.”

The average retail on Roma pizza is five for $11, while Bernatello’s typically retails for three for $9.99. The premium Bellatoria Ultra Thin Crust pizza averages around $6.99 each.

While traditional toppings are still popular, its Bellatoria pizza line also offers non-traditional varieties. These include Garlic Chicken Alfredo, Chicken Fajita, Roasted Vegetable and BBQ Chicken. 

In addition, the Bellatoria specialties line offers square-cut flatbreads in Garlic Roasted Vegetable and Garlic Cheese varieties, the company says.

The Bellatoria line has been a “wonderful addition to our line of products,” Halverson stresses. “It’s becoming very popular. We sold millions of Bellatoria in 2007 alone.”

Good Quality Products
Bernatello’s Pizza manufactures more than 100,000 pizzas a day, and the company plans to expand its production in the next few years.

With the growth of its Bellatoria brand, “the company experienced good growth,” notes Chad Schultz, vice president of sales and marketing.

“Bellatoria Ultra Thin Crust Pizza has allowed us to expand our distribution outside our Midwest DSD (direct sales delivery) operation, and grow with great customers like Costco across the entire U.S.,” Schultz says. “We’ve had tremendous feedback from consumers throughout the United States.”  

As Bernatello’s Pizza looks to staying innovative and growing its Bellatoria brand, it also looks to expand its horizons with St. Paul, Minn.-based Green Mill Restaurants, a restaurant chain known in the upper Midwest. “Green Mill has award-winning restaurant pizzas – they’ve stacked up award after award,” Schultz explains.

“Our plan is to launch six varieties of Pescara Hand-Tossed and Classic Thin Style pizzas under the Green Mill Brand, with the same great restaurant taste, and make them available everyday in the grocer’s freezer.”  

The company ensures high-quality products by purchasing only premium ingredients. Halverson notes that it uses 100 percent real cheeses on all of its premium pizzas.     

“One of our assets is our crust operation, which gives us true control of the manufacturing process from beginning to end, and ensures quality and consistency throughout,” she says.

She adds that DSD allows for on-time delivery of products and guarantees freshness. “If you offer great pizzas and execute at store level, consumers get good quality products,” Halverson emphasizes.

Quality pizza is important in the competition for consumers, Vice President and Co-Owner Dave Ramsay adds.    “We use better-quality ingredients because that’s what customers have come to expect,” he notes. “Our

Bellatoria pizzas are priced in the $7 range, which is getting close to the cost of home delivery. “Our products must be as good as or better than pizza delivery. We’ve definitely raised the bar on frozen pizza.”

Staying Flexible
Despite escalating ingredient costs, Bernatello’s is cutting its expenses without sacrificing quality. “Other companies have sacrificed quality by using such things as mechanically separated chicken in their meats,” Schultz says. “We stand by our quality and that’s what our customers appreciate.”

The company is dealing with market challenges, Halverson adds. “The rising fuel and cheese costs have hit everybody in the industry,” she says, “but we’re working through it. This is when you get creative and tighten up your boot straps. Raising prices is not always the answer.

“Our company continually strives to offer high quality, consistent products at a great value to the consumer. We continue to find ways to become a more efficient, low-cost operator.”  

Keeping Up With the Times
The family owned firm distinguishes itself by making educated swift decisions. “Our greatest asset is our people,” Halverson states. “We are not a top heavy organization, and can make well-educated, timely decisions with input from our entire management team.  We do not have a lot of red tape.”

Success in the food industry requires flexibility and adaptability. “Things change very quickly within the grocery industry and you have to change and adapt to survive,” Halverson stresses. “We have an efficient company with great people, and we are keeping up with the changing times.”

Established for Excellence
Under the original name of Bernie’s Pizza, Bernatello’s got its start at a local tavern in Annandale, Minn., selling pizzas to local patrons. As its popularity increased, Bernie’s began selling branded pizzas to local retail establishments.

In 1982, the original tavern was sold and Bernie’s changed its name to Bernatello’s Frozen Pizza. The company set up shop in a manufacturing plant in Norwood, Minn. The facility consisted of one manual production line operated by eight employees who applied ingredients by hand. Making 500 pizzas was considered a good day, the company says.

Bernatello’s has operated from its current production facility since 1985. The new facility originally featured a more sophisticated manual line that could produce about 5,000 pizzas per day. That same year, Bernatello’s began distributing through the SuperValu warehouse, which was headquartered in the area.

Just one year after moving to the new facility, Bernatello’s had four manual lines in operation and had quadrupled its production to 20,000 pizzas each day.

The first automated line was installed in 1988, and production jumped to 25,000 pizzas each day. Shortly thereafter, Bernatello’s expanded its distribution to Wisconsin and North Dakota.

By 1993, Bernatello’s was established in all major warehouses and retail stores in North Dakota and Minnesota. Two years later, the company expanded into Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri and South Dakota.

A second automated line was installed in 1998, and plant capacity increased to more than 100,000 pizzas a day.

In 2000, Bernatello’s added Roma-brand pizza products to its line and expanded distribution even further to Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan.

“Our manufacturing facility footprint hasn’t changed in years,” Ramsay says. “However, that’s not to say that it won’t. Currently, we’re running single lines, but we can put a double line in without adding any brick and mortar.

“We have invested in our freezer and cooler space to store our ingredients,” he continues. “We maintain 30,000 square feet of freezer space. At first, we thought it was too much, but we grew into it quickly.”