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Frozen pizzas by Gustavo Gusto: The Corona winners from Geretsried

2021-01-25T09:25:35.921Z


The pandemic has brought dire hardship for many industries, but some are benefiting as well. Including an extraordinary frozen pizza manufacturer from Geretsried.


The pandemic has brought dire hardship for many industries, but some are benefiting as well.

Including an extraordinary frozen pizza manufacturer from Geretsried.

Geretsried - Every lockdown has its hardships, even Christoph Schramm experienced that.

In the spring, the first time, he didn't get to the hairdresser in time, months passed before the next appointment.

When new restrictions recently became known, Schramm quickly arranged an appointment.

The weeks before Christmas were hectic anyway, but there had to be time for that.

All developments regarding the current corona lockdown in Bavaria can be found here.

Of course, he knows that this is a luxury problem, and Schramm, 42, doesn't want to complain at all.

On the contrary.

Economically, he has come through the pandemic pretty well so far, and it will most likely stay that way.

People may no longer be able to go out to eat, they are not allowed to go to the stadium or take their children to school, pubs and museums are also taboo, but what they are definitely allowed to do: stay at home and eat pizza. 

Pizza Gustavo Gusto from Geretsried: 110,000 pizzas daily

Over the past six years, Schramm and his colleagues have raised a company that is now literally on everyone's lips.

The

Gustavo Gusto brand

is

so successful in

the

frozen pizzas

market

that the German Deep Freeze Institute, the umbrella association, speaks of a “breath of fresh air” that has whirled through the scene.

"Fortunately, the industry continues to develop," says Managing Director Sabine Eichner.

Gustavo Gusto, the climber from Geretsried, would do well without Corona, but the pandemic and its consequences have also boosted demand.

Currently

110,000 pizzas

glide

through the stone ovens

every day

, before Corona it was almost half.

For Schramm it could also be more, but “we are relatively close to the production limits”.

A second plant is currently being planned in Thuringia, which is due to start operations in early 2022.

The number of 330 employees will only remain a snapshot.

Gustavo Gusto: highlight of the success story

This is the culmination of a story that began when Schramm asked himself a fundamental question in 2014: "Does it have to be that a frozen pizza tastes the way it tastes and looks the way it looks?" outside tends to be dry.

He then experimented a lot and radically rethought some things, at least according to the standards of the frozen pizza industry.

The dough of its rounds ripens longer and is spread out by hand, leavening agents and flavor enhancers were avoided from the start, baking in trays is frowned upon, the stone oven is standard.

The size of 30 centimeters in diameter corresponds to the Italian next door.

The fact that the whole thing was packed in funny, cheeky printed cardboard boxes (“We only take mozzarella, everything else is cheese”) didn't hurt the attention either.

The price of just under four euros, a good one euro more than the (less extensive) competition, is what people pay without hesitation.

After a two-year start-up, Gustavo Gusto had a contract with the retail giant Rewe, which was allowed to sell the pizza exclusively for a year.

The Geretsrieder can now be found on refrigerated shelves nationwide as well as in Austria and Switzerland.

The market share in Germany is eight percent.

On closer inspection - and a few bites - the climb isn't all that surprising.

A pizza comes out of the oven that is noticeably juicy and spectacularly crispy on the edge.

If you were to bake your product and a fresh one from the Ristorante in a stone oven under the same conditions, Christoph Schramm is almost certain: the frozen version would be “a bit better”.

Pizza Gustavo Gusto: It all started with a pizzeria in Passau

As a good businessman, he must say that, but Schramm is nonetheless impartial on this issue, at least a little.

He is also still closely associated with gastronomy.

He started in 2003 with a pizzeria, which he opened while studying business administration in Passau - directly across from the university.

He has now sold two of what was now three stores, he only owns the main store.

He still knows what it means to have to convince customers every day anew.

And that's why he publicly advised against buying his product in the spring.

"Eat less frozen pizza," appealed Gustavo Gusto when the restaurants groaned under lockdown for the first time.

While the company had reached a point where it could hardly increase its capacities, the Italian around the corner felt the pandemic with full force.

The small catering establishments in particular had a hard time back then, Schramm recalls, and they are doing it again today.

“That hits her rock hard.

I fear the worst. ”After all, he still enjoys going out to eat, and not just to keep an eye on trends and competition.

Gustavo Gusto: Pizza high-flyers are also feeling the consequences of the corona

They also have their corona hardship with Gustavo Gusto.

The shifts in production had to be straightened out, the hygiene standards are strict.

But overall, Schramm knows, these are measures that can be taken: “We were fine and we are fine.” He recently started a solidarity campaign called “Local Round”, this time together with six other food brands, including Ritter Sport and Rügenwalder Mühle.

They suggested donating the money that would have flowed into Christmas parties in normal times to the catering trade.

There's not much to celebrate at the moment anyway.

At least in most other industries.

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Source: merkur

All news articles on 2021-01-25

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