Celeste Pizza

by Celeste

1962 – 2026 GONE FOREVER

Gone. Conagra disclosed the exit on September 30, 2026, and a spokesperson confirmed production has stopped; boxes already made may linger until they sell through. The 1962 start is when the Lizios began selling frozen pizza; it became Quaker's national brand in 1969.

Mama Celeste smiled from the box for more than half a century, promising West Side Chicago cooking in a freezer-aisle square. In 2026 Conagra decided small brands had no future and switched off the ovens.

🧾 One more thingCeleste Lizio ran a Chicago neighborhood restaurant from 1937 and began selling her pizza frozen in 1962. When Quaker Oats bought the business in 1969 it kept her on as spokeswoman, partly because the recipe lived only in her head. Her TV catchphrase: "Abbondanza!"

Filed under: Frozen & Dairy · the ’70s & earlier

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