The 'DiGiornut' Is the DiGiorno Pizza and Donut Mashup That's So Weird It Just Might Work

Mike Pomranz
·3 min read

"It's not delivery; it's DiGiorno" is one of those slogans that's burned into your memory forever. But a brand can't live on a single catchphrase alone, and so for some reason, the cook-at-home pizza purveyor decided May of 2021 was the month they go all-in on buzzy promotions. Just one week ago, DiGiorno joined the legion of brands that have released their own online merch shop. Then today, they announced the release of an even more discussion-worthy item: the DiGiornut—a DiGiorno pizza and doughnut mashup.

Digiornut
Digiornut

DiGiorno

Despite the weird name, the DiGiornut is exactly what you'd imagine: a savory treat billed as "a delicious donut, stuffed with mozzarella cheese, topped with signature DiGiorno sauce, even more cheese and decked out with your favorite pizza toppings."

"At DiGiorno we like to push the boundaries of what's possible for pizza, and the DiGiornut is something we've been dreaming about for a while," Kimberly Holowiak, DiGiorno brand manager at Nestlé, said in the announcement. "At the same time, we've seen out of the box thinking from our fans on social media—connecting pizza with donuts. So we thought, why not have some fun and make this mashup a reality to celebrate National Donut Day."

Digiornut
Digiornut

DiGiorno

Sadly, however, the DiGiornut will not be coming to stores. Instead, these amalgams will be available exclusively through a Twitter sweepstakes held on National Donut Day—which is June 4 in case it's not already in your calendar. Simply keep an eye on the @DiGiorno account and then reply to the appropriate tweet with #sweepstakes. The brand says ten winners will be chosen to receive a half-dozen box each.

But is it just me or does it feel like DiGiorno has opened Pandora's box on this one? Full disclosure: I haven't had a DiGiorno pizza in decades, but I'd snatch up a box of DiGiornuts from my local grocery store in a heartbeat. Is the brand really going to hold out on everyone like this? Reached for comment, a DiGiorno spokesperson told me, "Currently, the DiGiornut is only a limited-time promotional item, but it may be something we explore again in the future." So call your senators! Or call Nestlé! Or both!

Meanwhile, DiGiorno is far from the only company to have produced pizza doughnuts. In fact, earlier this month, Hormel and The Doughnut Project teamed up to create a limited time only pepperoni-topped "Cheese of the Day" pizza doughnut in honor of National Pizza Party Day on May 21. Those were sold at The Doughnut Project's location in New York City's West Village last weekend. And a quick search of Food & Wine shows we were talking about pizza doughnuts as far back as 2015.

So pizza donuts are clearly a concept hanging in the ether. Maybe it's time DiGiorno just committed and made these a retail reality. They already have the perfect slogan: "It's not a doughnut; it's DiGiorno."