Grandiosa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Grandiosa (also known as Grandis or Grandi) refers to the most popular frozen pizza in Norway. Grandiosa can also refer to the series of different Grandiosa variants. Grandiosa is originally an Italian word for great.
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[edit] History
Production of the original Grandiosa started on February 11, 1980, then produced by Nora (now Stabburet) in Stranda in Møre og Romsdal. Grandiosa was the first frozen pizza produced in Norway. The pizza became vastly popular and is still the most sold pizza brand in Norway, in defiance of increasing competition from other local and international brands. In 2002 Stabburet responded to increased competition in the frozen food segment by revived the brand with creative marketing and several new versions of Grandiosa. The pizza is also exported in smaller numbers to the neighbouring countries Sweden and Finland.
The pizza is subject to a lot of humorous debate, and is unquestionably a piece of modern culture, loathed and loved by Norwegians. It has has been called the "modern national dish" by some, others claim it is "a piece of cardboard", "laziness in a box" and even "refrigerated evil".[1]
In 2005 Grandiosa got its own unofficial book: "GrandiosaLAND". The book contains stories about the man who had a broken jaw and had to put his Grandiosa in the mix master so he could eat it, and many other stories about Grandiosa, and Norwegian favourite past times such as "hyttetur" (trips to cabins typicaly located close to the sea/fjords or up in the mountains), "russetid" (the close to lawless celebration of the high school diploma) and "dugnad" (the collective activity of helping one another with community tasks).
[edit] Market share
Grandiosa benefited from being first to the market and early creating surprisingly loyal customers. Lately Stabburet has used creative marketing to promote Grandiosa. Examples are their very successful SMS-vote marketing campaign for selecting new addition to the pizza in 2004. An other example is their hit mobile ring tone "Respekt til Grandiosa" (Respect to Grandiosa) which 300,000 downloaded within 1.5 months.[2]
A total of 260 million pizzas have been sold. Twenty million units of Grandiosa are produced each year for the 4.67 million citizens of Norway.[3] The average person eats about 5 Grandiosa pizzas per year and shows how extremely popular "Grandis" is among young people. The reason for its popularity is that it is a Norwegian product, that it is easy to make, and, according to some, that it tastes nice. It is prepared in a stove for approximately 12 minutes at 225 degrees Celsius. 100 grams of Grandiosa gives 220 kcal (920 kJ). The normal price for a Grandiosa is about 25 NOK, and about 45 NOK for the Lørdagspizza (Saturday Pizza).
[edit] The mouse tail finding
On 25 November 2006, the Norwegian newspaper VG reported that Thomas Ludvigsen from Porsgrunn found a mouse tail on a Grandiosa.[4] Ludvigsen delivered the pizza unopened with the plastic wrapping package to VG, and later sent the pizza to the Mattilsynet (Norwegian health inspectors). The tail was underneath the plastic wrapping, indicating that it entered the box at the factory, according to Mattilsynets spokesperson Pia Paulsen.
The factory representatives have no explanation, and national health inspectors have found no food safety problems at the Grandiosa factory. The tail was sent for DNA-testing to find out if the mouse originated from the area around the pizza factory.
After careful inspection, it was later revealed that the wrapping had indeed been tampered with after it left the factory, proving that the tail had been planted.[5]
[edit] Varieties
In addition to the original Grandiosa, there exists different varieties.
| Introduced | Name | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| November 11, 1980 | Grandiosa | ham, cheese, tomato sauce and red bell pepper | The original Grandiosa |
| 2002 | Grandiosa Mild Taco | Taco spiced meat and tortilla chip | Discontinued in favour of Kjøttdeig & Løk |
| 2004 | Grandiosa Pepperoni | Pepperoni and oregano | Lost to Kjøttdeig & Løk but is still sold regardless |
| 2004 | Grandiosa Kjøttdeig & Løk | Minced meat and onion | Winner of the 2004 pizza election |
| 2005 | Grandiosa Taco | Taco spiced meat and corn | Winner of the 2005 pizza election |
| 2005 | Grandiosa Pølse & Tomat | Sausage and tomato | Lost the election to Taco |
| Grandiosa Porsjonspizza | Portion Pizza | Small, plate-sized pizza | |
| 2006 | Grandiosa Lørdagspizza | Meatballs, beef and a dip | Translates to Saturday Pizza. Needs extra sour cream for dip. |
| 2007 | Grandiosa Full Pakke | Meatballs, beef, dip, pepperoni and ham. |
[edit] References
- ^ Sverre Bjørstad Graff (2002-07-01). Grandiosa - den store testen! (Norwegian). Retrieved on 2006-10-14.
- ^ Joakim Thorkildsen (2006-03-14). 300 000 har lastet ned Grandiosa-låt (Norwegian). Retrieved on 2006-10-14.
- ^ Stabburet. Merker og Produkter - Grandiosa (Norwegian). Retrieved on 2006-10-14.
- ^ Geir Fragell (2006-11-25). Fant muse-hale i Grandiosa-pizza (Found mouse tail in Grandiosa pizza) (Norwegian). Retrieved on 2006-11-28.
- ^ Kurt Haugli (2006-12-08). - Dette var sabotasje (- This was sabotage) (Norwegian).
