Frozen Assets: Pasquale’s Pizza pleases palates statewide

By Darcy Dougherty Maulsby

Pizza might just be the world’s favorite food. We eat it everywhere – at home, in restaurants and even in the car when we’re on the go. With recipes originating from the owner’s Italian heritage, one Iowa pizza company has added its own unique flavor to pizza culture for more than 60 years.

“The sauce is the key,” says Dave Stockdale, president of Pasquale’s Food Service Inc. in Humboldt, which produces several thousand frozen pizzas daily. “Our sauce is made fresh, has a spicy flavor profile and is made from a great recipe our family has used for decades.”

Dave Stockdale, president of Pasquale’s Food Service Inc. in Humboldt.

Photo by Joseph L. Murphy

You can find Pasquale’s pizzas in grocery stores, restaurants, bars, convenience stores, high school concession stands and other venues across Iowa.

FAMILY BUSINESS

Pasquale’s has always been a family business. It began in the 1950s when Mario “Marvin” Stockdale and his brother Pasquale Stockdale moved to Iowa from St. Paul, Minnesota. When they opened a pizzeria in Fort Dodge in 1959, it became one of the first pizza restaurants in the region. People loved this exciting, new food and business boomed.

By 1961, Mario Stockdale became the sole owner of Pasquale’s, and he opened another pizzeria in Humboldt. Always an innovator, Mario started experimenting with a line of frozen pizzas around 1980. By 1985, Pasquale’s Food Service introduced its own frozen pizza to customers across Iowa.

“We still incorporate the same sauce and sausage recipes that were originally used in 1959,” says Stockdale, who began working in the family business at age 12, chopping vegetables for pizza toppings. “These recipes originated with my grandmother Rose Schiponi, who was born and raised in Italy.”

COMPETING WITH THE BIG CORPORATIONS

The journey a Pasquale’s pizza takes to reach freezers begins with a trip down the conveyor belt at the Pasquale’s plant, which is housed in a former Fareway grocery store in downtown Humboldt. Distributors supply Pasquale’s pizzas across Iowa and surrounding states.

Photo by Joseph L. Murphy

Liam Stringer, an employee with Pasquale’s, shreds fresh mozzarella cheese at the production facility in Humboldt.

Photo by Joseph L. Murphy

Pasquale’s produces 32 different pizzas in a variety of flavors and sizes. It now distributes pizza in six states.

Photo by Joseph L. Murphy

It’s no small challenge to carve out a slice of the frozen pizza market, which is dominated by huge corporations like Nestle, General Mills and Conagra. “Our competitors are multibillion-dollar companies,” says Stockdale, whose team includes approximately 15 employees.

High-quality ingredients help Pasquale’s pizzas stand out from the competition. “Anytime we can, we use Iowa ingredients, including meat toppings. We spent a long time developing a crust recipe we liked,” adds Stockdale, whose company produces thin crust and self-rising crust pizzas.

Small, strategic steps have allowed Pasquale’s to build a fan base. Stockdale’s family invested in a cargo van and freezer when they started offering frozen pizzas to local bars. Pasquale’s Food Service gained a bigger toehold in the frozen pizza market by 1990, thanks to the work ethic and entrepreneurial spirit of the owners and employees.

Today, the company produces 32 different pizzas in a variety of flavors and sizes, including 12-inch pizzas, 10-inch pizzas and 7-inch pizzas. It has grown from serving customers in northern Iowa to distributing its frozen pizzas in six states. Pasquale’s products are available at retailers, including Hy-Vee, Fareway and a variety of independent grocers.

The Lake City Food Center has stocked Pasquale’s pizzas for about a year, after other grocery stores in nearby towns

closed. Customers who enjoyed purchasing Pasquale’s pizzas at those stores asked the Lake City Food Center if they would start stocking Pasquale’s.

“Pasquale’s is a local company, and people love local,” says Suzy Peterson, who owns the Lake City Food Center with her husband Eric. “Also, many of our older customers appreciate the 7-inch pizzas, since they don’t want to buy large pizzas.”

BREAKFAST PIZZA PROVES POPULAR

Pasquale’s breakfast pizza features sausage, bacon, scrambled eggs, cheese sauce and mozzarella cheese. Breakfast pizza proved to be a breakthrough item about 15 years ago for Pasquale’s, which focuses on research and development.

“No other company had offered frozen breakfast pizza before,” Stockdale says. “When we launched this item, I never thought it would become this popular. It’s still our best-selling product.”

More customers become acquainted with Pasquale’s pizzas each year as additional venues offer the company’s products. “We started serving Pasquale’s pizzas in the fall of 2019,” says Sheryl Ludwig, manager at the Lake City Country Club. “People love it, especially the supreme pizza with bacon. They know they’re getting a great product.”

This drives even more demand for Pasquale’s pizza, as people ask for the product at their local grocery store.

Word-of-mouth advertising is powerful, notes Stockdale, who adds that Pasquale’s Food Service Inc. is seeking more out-of-state distributors. “One of the keys to success in this business is dedication. We’re proud of our Iowa heritage and are excited to keep growing the business.”

Each frozen pizza is made with care at Pasquale’s production facility in downtown Humboldt.

Photo by Joseph L. Murphy

Each frozen pizza is made with care at Pasquale’s production facility in downtown Humboldt.

Enjoy a meal at Pasquale’s Pizza

If you’re traveling through Humboldt, you may notice a Pasquale's Pizza restaurant along Highway 169.

“That’s a whole separate business that my sister Susan Allen and her husband Randy own,” says Dave Stockdale, who owns Pasquale’s Food Service Inc. in Humboldt. “Their pizza recipes are mostly the same as ours, although we’ve made some modif ications so we can f reeze our products.”