SECAUCUS, NJ — Digital media company Barstool Sports and frozen meal brand Happi Foodi have partnered to produce a new line of frozen pizza branded as One Bite Pizza. The new product will launch today in more than 3,500 Walmart stores nationwide and online at Walmart.com, OneBite.app, FreshDirect.com and HappiFoodi.com.
The name “One Bite” comes from Barstool Sports founder and president Dave Portnoy’s One Bite pizza review series, which has a massive online following. In the series, he visits pizzerias across the country, eating and rating pizza one slice at a time based on the first bite, where he repeats the phrase “one bite, everybody knows the rules.” The company describes Portnoy as “the number one pizza influencer” due to the success of his review series.
The review series was forced to shift gears during COVID-19, where Portnoy was limited with delivery options and forced to pause in-person reviews. So, he shifted to frozen pizzas, and the idea of the brand’s own frozen offering was born.
Barstool chose to partner with Happi Foodi due to the brand’s experience in the ready-to-heat space. Happi Foodi is a chef-created frozen food brand that produces meals including keto bowls, cauliflower pizzas, waffles and more. The company has been especially attentive to better-for-you ingredients during the growth of the frozen food space.
“Pizza is a huge part of my brand. I’ve been involved in the process every step of the way with the team at Happi Foodi, from ingredients to taste testing to packaging, and we’re excited to take it to over 90% of Walmarts,” Portnoy said. “This has been a passion project of mine for years and I’m excited for our One Bite community to finally get to rank my pizza. And remember, this is a frozen pizza scale.”
The pizza starts with an Italian stone-baked crust and is topped with tomato sauce, parmesan cheese, olive oil, and herbs and spices. It gets an extra sprinkle of grated cheeses including mozzarella, cheddar and provolone and is then topped with bacon, pepperoni or sausage. The pizza comes in four flavors: 5-cheese, pepperoni, 3-meat and supreme.
“Partnering with Dave Portnoy and Barstool Sports has created a revolution in how packaged foods are innovated, marketed and sold,” said Sam Rockwell, CEO of Happi Foodi. “We are excited to leverage our development and distribution capabilities to make One Bite Pizza a success. Between Dave’s equity in pizza, Happi Foodi’s expertise in packaged consumer goods and Barstool’s megaphone, we have the opportunity to drive unprecedented growth.”
