Red Baron has launched Crunchtime pizza, a 10", multi-serve frozen pizza that promises a crispy crust after five minutes in the microwave.

The new product expands microwave pizza beyond the smaller, single-serve formats traditionally associated with the preparation method. Red Baron said it developed the product to combine full-size pizza convenience with faster preparation. It is offered in Pepperoni, Meat Trio and Four Cheese varieties. 

According to Red Baron, the pizza was designed specifically for microwave preparation to address the typical tradeoff between speed and crust texture. According to Circana research cited by Red Baron, consumers continue to prioritize faster meal preparation, with half of meals now prepared and cooked in less than 15 minutes.

For convenience services operators, locations equipped with higher-capacity microwaves can explore offering shareable or meal-size frozen products. Foodservice and merchandising teams may need to assess whether larger microwave-prepared products fit their equipment, storage and assortment strategies.