Totino's

Totino's and Jeno's are brands of frozen pizza products owned by General Mills.

Totino's
Product typeFrozen pizza and pizza products
OwnerGeneral Mills
CountryUnited States
Introduced1951 (1951) (Totino's)
1968 (1968) (Jeno's)
MarketsWorldwide
Previous ownersRose and Jim Totino (Totino's)
Jeno's Inc. (Jeno's)
Pillsbury Company
Websitewww.totinos.com

History

Rose Totino and her husband, Jim, founded a take-out pizzeria in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1951. They later expanded it to a full-service restaurant, which closed in 2011.[1] They also founded a frozen-pizza manufacturing company. The Totinos eventually sold their frozen pizza business to the Pillsbury Company, where Rose Totino was named as vice-president.[2] Totino’s brand was acquired by General Mills with its purchase of Pillsbury.

Separately, Jeno Paulucci developed a series of food businesses starting in the late 1940s, including the Chun King line of Chinese foods.[3] After selling Chun King in 1966, he founded Jeno’s Inc. in 1968, where he developed Pizza Rolls, a type of egg roll filled with pizza ingredients. The first pizza roll flavor was in fact cheese. [3] In 1985, Paulucci sold his Jeno's Pizza Rolls brand to Pillsbury for $135 million.[4]

The Jeno's line of pizza rolls was rebranded as Totino's in 1993.[5]

Advertising

In 2019, it was announced that the company would partner with Activision and the Call of Duty franchise for in-game unlocks through purchases of Totino's products.[6]

Product lines

  • Totino's Big Party Pizza: Cheese, Pepperoni
  • Totino's Party Pizza: Canadian style bacon, Cheese, Classic pepperoni, Triple Pepperoni, Combination, Hamburger, Pepperoni, Pepperoni trio, Sausage, Supreme, Three cheese, Three meat
  • Totino's Family Size Pizza: Pepperoni, Cheese, Combination, Sausage
  • Totino's Pizza Rolls snacks: Cheese, Cheesy taco, Combination, Pepperoni, Pepperoni trio, Sausage, Supreme, Triple cheese, Triple meat, Nacho Cheese, Buffalo Chicken, Spicy Taco, Bacon & Pepperoni, Macaroni and Cheese & Bacon, cheeseburger.
  • Totino's Pizza Stuffers: Pepperoni, Cheese, Combination
  • Totino's Pizza Chips: Pepperoni
  • Jeno's Crisp 'N Tasty Pizza: Pepperoni, Cheese, Combination, Supreme (All Jeno's Crisp 'N Tasty Pizza discontinued May 2018)

Health and nutrition issues

On November 1, 2007, Totino's and Jeno's brand pizza were recalled for E. coli contamination.[7]

Totino's products contain cheese substitutes made with hydrogenated oil.[8] Totino's products have been criticized for their high amount of trans fat[9] and sodium.[10] In 2011, Consumer Reports rated Totino's as "only fair for nutrition" because of "high total fat and trans fat and low fiber."[11] [12] By at least October 2013, packaging on Totino's brand pizza now indicates 0 trans fat per serving.

See also

References

  1. "Totino's Italian Kitchen in Mounds View to close after 60 years". twincities.com. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
  2. "Rose Totino". Great American Leaders of the 20th Century. Harvard Business School. n.d. Retrieved October 31, 2012.
  3. Slotnik, Daniel E. (November 25, 2011). "Jeno Paulucci, a Pioneer of Ready-Made Ethnic Foods, Dies at 93". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-11-01.
  4. Finkelstein, Matt (2007-11-02). "The Master Chef". Inc.com. Retrieved 2019-11-01.
  5. "Totino's History". Totino's. Retrieved 2019-11-01.
  6. "Totino's Teams Up with Activision In Advance of Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® Launch". www.prnewswire.com (Press release). Activision. Sep 27, 2019. Retrieved 2019-11-01.
  7. "Ohio Firm Recalls Frozen Meat Pizzas Due to Possible E. Coli O157:H7 Contamination" (Press release). Food Safety and Inspection Service. November 1, 2007. Archived from the original on 2008-02-09. Retrieved October 31, 2012.
  8. "Pizza Makers Whip Dairy Lobby, Duck 'Imitation Cheese'". Ocala Star-Banner. June 10, 1987. Retrieved October 31, 2012 via Google News.
  9. Rem, Kathryn (January 18, 2012). "Kathryn Rem: Investigating the contents of packaged foods  Trans Fats Have Not Gone Away". GateHouse News Service. Archived from the original on 20 Jan 2013. Retrieved 2019-11-01 via Journal Star.
  10. "Processed-Food Makers Criticized on Sodium". The New York Times. Associated Press. February 13, 1986. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-11-01.
  11. "Shop Smart: Frozen pizzas can satisfy even adults". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Consumer Reports. January 30, 2011. Retrieved 2019-11-01.
  12. Perrin, Gail (November 30, 1988). "Frozen Pizzas May Be High in Fat"". The Boston Globe. Retrieved October 31, 2012.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.