There’s a new way to contribute to the fight against hunger in Milwaukee, thanks to a new pizza brand introduced by Palermo Villa, Inc., the local pizza you recently deemed your favorite Milwaukee product.
Mission Pizza Co. has launched five varieties of pizza: cheese, combination, Italian sausage, pepperoni and supreme. Each thin-crust pizza will retail for $3-$5, and for every five Mission pizzas sold, Palermo’s will donate one additional pizza to local charitable organizations working to address hunger in the Milwaukee area.
Mission Pizza aims to honor the memory of Palermo’s immigrant founders, Gaspare and Zina Fallucca, whose spirit of generosity lives on more than 50 years later through the company’s social mission of feeding the hungry. The program hopes to donate up to 500,000 pizzas throughout the Midwest in the next year.
"Food is essential, and there are many people in the Milwaukee area and across America without resources to feed themselves or their families," said Palermo’s Chief Creative Officer Laurie Fallucca. "It is sad to think that roughly 14 percent of U.S. households cannot provide a meal for their loved ones. Our purpose in creating Mission Pizza Co. is to help feed people in need and encourage those who enjoy our pizzas to join with us in making a difference in their own communities."
The new pizza is available at Pick ‘n Save, Metro Market, Sendik’s and Woodman’s stores in the Milwaukee area. The pizza will also be introduced in Green Bay, Madison and Chicago along with Des Moines, Iowa; Kansas City, Mo.; and Champaign, Ill.
A "Tell Us Your Stories" feature on the Mission Pizza web site will also allow customers to participate directly by sharing information about the ways in which their local community is working to address hunger.
Mission Pizza Co. furthers a long-standing commitment on the part of Palermo’s to give back and alleviate hunger in the community. The frozen pizza manufacturer has long supported causes that feed the hungry, including providing Easter dinner and a week’s worth of meals for 1,500 Milwaukee-area families each year through its signature stewardship event, Easter Baskets for the Hungry effort. Last year, the company celebrated its 50th anniversary by giving 100,000 pizzas to food banks throughout the country.
As a passionate champion of the local dining scene, Lori has reimagined the restaurant critic's role into that of a trusted dining concierge, guiding food lovers to delightful culinary discoveries and memorable experiences.
Lori is an avid cook whose accrual of condiments and spices is rivaled only by her cookbook collection. Her passion for the culinary industry was birthed while balancing A&W root beer mugs as a teenage carhop, fed by insatiable curiosity and fueled by the people whose stories entwine with every dish. Lori is the author of two books: the "Wisconsin Field to Fork" cookbook and "Milwaukee Food". Her work has garnered journalism awards from entities including the Milwaukee Press Club. In 2024, Lori was honored with a "Top 20 Women in Hospitality to Watch" award by the Wisconsin Restaurant Association.
When she’s not eating, photographing food, writing or planning for TV and radio spots, you’ll find Lori seeking out adventures with her husband Paul, traveling, cooking, reading, learning, snuggling with her cats and looking for ways to make a difference.
