This Nostalgic Frozen Pizza Brand Has Been Discontinued After 64 Years

While the youth of today might associate frozen pizza nights with brands like Red Baron, those who grew up in the disco '70s and the shoulder pad '80s probably remember Celeste Pizza as their staple frozen pie. But the brand has now officially been discontinued after more than six decades.

Mama Celeste, the iconic face of the brand displayed on all of its pizza boxes, was a real person and one of the original founders. Celeste Lizio and her husband began their business venture in Chicago, in 1937, opening a restaurant-slash-tavern that quickly became popular among locals. They ran it for 25 years before selling the business and embarking on a new venture in 1962: supplying restaurants with frozen goods, including pizza. And so, the Celeste brand was born.

Despite persevering since the early '60s, there's a reason Celeste Pizza is no more. The brand's parent company, Conagra recently underwent a change in leadership, and one of the new CEO's goals is to prioritize brands that are strong performers with a better potential for growth. The company owns many other well-known brands, such as Slim Jim, Duncan Hines, Boom Chicka Pop, and others.

Celeste Pizza is a deeply nostalgic brand, and many who grew up with it will surely miss it. "I remember eating these after middle school playing GTA 4. Those were the days," shared one commenter on a Reddit thread discussing the pizza. "My mom used to stock up on these for me to have something to heat up after school. I still enjoy a Celeste here and there and it hits," reminisced another.

But even though food nostalgia guides our approach to eating, it clearly isn't enough to keep selling these frozen pies. Some have pointed out that the quality of the brand started going downhill, and never picked back up. "Change the recipe back to the original before they had that sticker microwave in minutes and bring back the brand that was so good. It doesn't matter to save money if it is un-edible now," said one customer. Even on our own list of 8 frozen foods at Dollar Tree to buy and 7 to skip, Celeste was sadly in the skip section.

Still, if you loved Celeste back in the neon days, you will probably miss seeing it at the store. At least you can dry your tears with a $2 frozen pizza from another nostalgic brand that's highly rated (and cheaper than Stouffer's).