Celeste is a brand of frozen

pizza Pizza is an Italian cuisine, Italian, specifically Neapolitan cuisine, Neapolitan, dish typically consisting of a flat base of Leavening agent, leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomato, cheese, and other ingredients, baked at a high t ...

owned by

Conagra Brands Conagra Brands, Inc. (formerly ConAgra Foods) is an American consumer packaged goods holding company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Conagra makes and sells products under various brand names that are available in supermarkets, restaurants, ...

. It is widely referred to by its former name Mama Celeste. The brand's slogan is ''Abbondanza'', which means "Abundance" in

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

Background

The product was named after Celeste (née Luise) Lizio (1908–1988), who carried the nickname "Mama Celeste". She was born in San Angelo, Italy, and came to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

from Italy with her husband, Anthony, in the 1920s. They settled on

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

's West Side, where they opened their first restaurant in 1937. In 1962, the Lizios closed the restaurant and began selling pizzas to other restaurants. The

Quaker Oats Company The Quaker Oats Company, known as Quaker, is an American food Conglomerate (company), conglomerate based in Chicago, Illinois. As Quaker Mill Company, the company was founded in 1877 in Ravenna, Ohio. In 1881, Henry Crowell bought the company and ...

acquired the product in 1969. Celeste frozen pizza was one of the top-selling brands in the 1970s (with Mrs. Lizio, "Mama Celeste," prominently featured in the brand's television advertising) but subsequently experienced declines. Lizio died of a heart condition in 1988 at age 80. The Celeste brand was later acquired by Aurora Foods and then

Pinnacle Foods Pinnacle Foods, Inc., is a packaged foods company headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey that specializes in shelf-stable and frozen foods. The company became a subsidiary of Conagra Brands on October 26, 2018. History The company was foun ...

. In 2018,

acquired Pinnacle Foods, which included the Celeste brand. As of 2025, Celeste Pizza is produced and distributed by Conagra. In 2012, Pinnacle Foods marketed only frozen, microwavable "Pizza for One" varieties of Celeste pizzas and distribution was restricted to more regional markets.

References

External links

Conagra brands Inc.
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141204194400/http://pinnaclefoodscorp.com/brands/celeste , date=2014-12-04 , title=Pinnacle Foods - Celeste Pizza For One - Home Frozen pizza brands Pinnacle Foods brands 1969 introductions

Background

See also

References

External links