Another Slice of Norwegian Pizza

I mentioned that Norway leads the world in per capita pizza consumption in my October 24, 2025, Friday Photo. I thought all you “aficionadoughs” out there “kneaded” to know more.

A fraction of the size of the US, Norway’s 5.3 million inhabitants consume 47 million frozen pizzas annually. And an astounding 50% of those pizzas are Grandiosa brand.

From Nå er det priskrig på Grandiosa

The brand is so ubiquitous that in 2004, 20 percent of the population considered Grandiosa an unofficial national dish. Some devoted fans substitute it for the more traditional Christmas Eve dishes such as pinnekjøtt (cured lamb ribs) or svineribbe (pork ribs). So, how did a humble frozen pizza brand become a national treasure?

Frank Pepe, an illiterate Italian teenager from the Amalfi Coast, immigrated to New Haven, Connecticut, in 1909. He went back to Italy to fight in World War I. After returning to America, Frank and his new wife Filomena opened Pepe’s Pizzeria in 1925.

At Pepe’s, an employee named Louis Jordan sharpened his wood-fired pizza-making skills. Louis and his wife Anne then decided to move to Norway, opening Peppes Pizza in Oslo in May of 1970. Their nine varieties of American/Italian pizza attracted a strong following.

Soon they had 78 locations, and today they are one of the most popular pizza chains in Norway. At the same time, an influx of Middle Eastern immigrants made kebabs ubiquitous.

According to Erlend Brandshaug Horvei, a Gastro Obscura contributor, “Every little town or village has a pizza restaurant of some sort, usually a combined pizza and kebab shop. With a kebab shop within 20 minutes of almost every house, getting a pizza is never really an issue.”

Norwegian pizza restaurants are known for fusing traditional Italian pizza ingredients with corn, cashews, pineapple, spinach, and eggplant. So are pizzas adorned with kebabs, topped with French fries, and drizzled with Béarnaise sauce.

From Fries-Kebab-Pizza with Bearnaise sauce instead of stock one. : r/MenuHacker

Even with the success of Peppes, many Norwegians in the 1970s had yet to try their first pie. So, how did Grandiosa’s humble brand become a national treasure?

It turns out to be luck. Their factory manager agreed to manufacture frozen pizzas without knowing what a pizza was! In February of 1980, the first pies sized to feed a family rolled out of the plant. By the 1990s, sales doubled, and Grandiosa became part of Norwegian food history.

The original pie, topped with mild tomato sauce, Jarlsberg cheese, and paprika, accounts for 9 million sales annually. A local hack involves adding additional cheese and drowning the pie in ketchup.

From Erlend Brandshaug Horvei

The Shot

Last October 13, our photography group stopped at a Geirangerfjord viewpoint. The moody weather (described last week) made this shot possible by simplifying the background with haze and producing a photogenic flow of water in the distant waterfall.

After this image, it was on to the town of Geiranger, where we boarded the ferry to our next destination. On the ferry, I had a chance to try another local taste treat, the Norwegian signature hot dog.

Thanks for looking,

Chuck Derus Zenfolio | Chuck Derus