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Pizza Party Creators: 10 million pizzas made each year at Green Bay business

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Posted at 5:59 PM, Oct 16, 2023
and last updated 2023-10-16 19:15:53-04
  • October is Manufacturing Month
  • Ten million pizzas are made each year at Hansen Foods in Green Bay, according to the CEO of Hansen Foods' parent company
  • Watch the video to hear from a pizza taste-tester

Millions of pizza parties are made possible because of the work done at Hansen Foods in Green Bay.

Ten million pizzas are made at the facility each year, said Randy Charles, CEO of AK Pizza Crust. Hansen Foods is a subsidiary of AK Pizza Crust.

"We do all things pizza, we make a lot of crust and we top a lot of pizza," Charles said.

Brands including Pep's Drafthaus and Pep's Legit Pizza are made at the facility.

Employees at the factory make pizzas that people can purchase around the country.

"It's fantastic, it's always been a huge manufacturing base," Charles said of the pizzas being made in Green Bay and sent around the country.

"People think of the paper industry, but the food industry is massive here," Charles said.

"[There's] a solid work ethic, with a lot of skill to automate and make it all happen, we're in the perfect spot in the country to service the rest of the country."

John Graycarek has what some people might call a dream job.

He works at Hansen Foods in research and development for pizzas, and does a lot of taste testing.

"It's a combination of a lot of different things," he said of the process of trying to improve a longtime staple like a frozen pizza.

"It can be the crust, it can the type of pepperoni, the amount of slices, just the quality of the ingredients all together," Graycarek said.

Note: In partnership with the Greater Green Bay Chamber, NBC 26 is celebrating Manufacturing Month throughout October. A different manufacturer in northeast Wisconsin is being featured each week. Click here to read about a growing family business in Seymour and here to read about the makers of Skee Ball in Pulaski.