Finding a Hot Market

Take-and-Bake Options Surge During Pandemic

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Eat Local Pizza was supplementing their thriving takeout business by supplying pizza lunches to several city schools. That changed the moment the first lockdown was announced, but owner Jim Stadey didn’t waste any time shifting gears.

“We got up and running with frozen pizzas in March 2020. It was a move we were looking to make anyway, and COVID really forced our hand in making it happen,” he says. How it came together “was a really cool experience,” he adds. “Our whole team had input, everyone jumped in [...] and we were able to move quickly through a process that would have otherwise taken much longer. It was really a team effort and I’m so proud of them for it.”

Eat Local’s vacuum-sealed frozen pizzas can now be found across the city, from Westfort Foods to George’s Market, the Odena in Kakabeka Falls, Maltese Grocery, and several places in between. Their signature pizzas featuring fresh local ingredients seem to be doing just as well in the freezer section, Stadey says, with the Perogie and George’s Market Sausage pizzas being top sellers. Not only has it helped Eat Local maintain its revenue stream and staffing through the pandemic, it’s turned into an opportunity ripe for expansion. Stadey anticipates a move to an independent facility focused on frozen pizza production in the near future.

Feeling the same pressure to expand their offerings, Both Hands Wood-Fired Pizzeria & Bakery got into the frozen pizza game in December 2020. It’s a bit of a different process to maintain the woodfired taste with a frozen product, but fortunately owner Derek Lucchese was ready. Lucchese had attempted frozen pizzas years before as a vendor at the market, but the timing wasn’t right and the pizzas never took off. After a flurry of business during the Christmas holidays, Lucchese saw that there was a market for their frozen goods and it could be a way to keep their dedicated staff busy and employed full time. Several local businesses including Dawson General Store, Agostino’s Deli, George’s Market, and Superior Seasons came on board, and soon Both Hands began prepping frozen pizzas, crusts, and bread dough on the regular, to great reviews.

“Thunder Bay really took the time and effort to support local producers and local businesses through the pandemic,” Lucchese says. Now, Both Hands keeps seven freezers stocked and ready to supply its walkin customers and partners. Biggest sellers include the Bohemian (with ham, bell peppers, and chèvre), Fungus Among Us, and pepperoni, as well as their bread dough.

“We will definitely keep it going,” he adds. “It’s really covered us financially and made up for the lack of dine-in options. It frankly carried us through.”