Premium frozen meal delivery brand Porta is promising rapid retail expansion in its second year of operation.

What started as a menu of eight flash-frozen pizzas, eight pastas and four desserts in 2021 has expanded to include rotating seasonal dishes, a new line-up of premium risottos and four hand-rolled breakfast pastries for a total of more than 30 items.

While the majority of Porta’s business is meal delivery service – it has fulfilled 500,000 orders to Ontario homes in a year of operation – it will eventually have a 50/50 breakdown between the retail and DTC side of its business, says Jason Cassidy, the company’s general manager.

According to Cassidy, Porta products are high quality, but also highly accessible as pizzas and pastas resonate with most consumers. It is, however, going to refine its SKUs so it has a repeatable model as it hits brick and mortar.

Cassidy tells strategy Porta has had some inbound opportunities with specialty grocers and has actively been reaching out to ones it thinks will be a good fit. It currently appears on specialty grocery store shelves in Ontario, including Battaglia’s, Harvest Wagon, Lady York Foods, Creeds and Aisle24.

According to Cassidy, it will be promoting retail partnerships starting with “great visibility on their shelves,” with in-store decals and freezer wraps for certain specialty retailers, such as one currently in McEwan Fine Foods.

Porta has set its sights on national expansion and is currently in talks with large retailers to start smaller store tests.

“We plan on doing a few instore demos to showcase our products,” Cassidy says. In the short term, that means focusing on pizza and cooking it with a small conventional oven. On the experiential side, it’s appeared at events and public markets – where it often adds its desserts, like panna cotta packed in individual jars, as a takeaway item.

The brand is the brainchild of restaurateur and founding partner Cosimo Mammoliti, best known to Torontonians as proprietor of Terroni, which has helped drive trial, at least in the local market.

Porta’s advantage, according to Cassidy, is that it has a differentiated product offering as a premium frozen brand specializing in Italian food. The food is handmade using real ingredients, and there is very little in the way of preparation for consumers.

“We’re not a meal kit company with food made by robots,” Cassidy maintains. With its new production facility, it’s ready to grow its distribution touchpoints, eventually expanding stateside.

Though something of an unique offering, Porta still has a pretty big competitive set when it comes to reaching consumer looking for a quick Italian meal. It competes against refrigerated sauces, ready-to-cook meals and frozen pizza, though Cassidy says it differentiates based on its elevated offering.