Collaborations have long been a specialty of Target’s—from the original Michael Graves tea pot to affordable fashion by the likes of Missoni and home furnishings by Chip and Joanna Gaines. But for its first frozen foods collaboration under the Good & Gather house brand, Target teamed up with a star chef from its own backyard: Minneapolis restaurateur and James Beard Award winner Ann Kim.

Launching in 1,800 Target stores across the country on Sunday, March 9, the Good & Gather + Ann Kim collection features four frozen pizzas and three Korean-inspired frozen appetizers including kimchi dumplings. Fans of Kim’s restaurants Young Joni, Pizzeria Lola and Hello Pizza will recognize the Target take on her popular pickle pizza.

“The challenge was producing on this scale and striking the balance of who I am and flavors I know and love and grew up eating,” Kim said. “The most important thing was being authentic to my culinary palate and what I do. Whatever else comes is a cherry on top.”

Within a few hours of Target announcing the collaboration during its fourth quarter earnings call on Tuesday, Kim began to feel the magnitude of what a Target partnership could mean for her business and national profile.

“I’ve got so many messages from people—it’s surreal,” Kim said on Tuesday. She was on her way to speak in a fireside chat at Target headquarters. “I mean, it’s Target. They’re a local company, I’m a local gal. It’s surreal. I’m honored.”

A partnership years in the making

Kim first sold frozen pizzas out of Pizzeria Lola and Young Joni during the pandemic, when her dining rooms were limited service. “I thought: maybe there is a better way to do this. So I came up with the a crazy, hair-brained idea to contact Target.”

Someone at Target returned Kim’s email, and they discussed the possibility of her frozen pizzas being sold by the retailer. But ultimately, they tabled the idea.  “It felt too large,” Kim said. “The logistics, the investment, moving production out of the restaurants. So we put it to rest.”

A year later, Target chief food and beverage officer Rick Gomez invited Kim to speak with his team. It was their first in-person meeting after Covid lockdowns. The subject of frozen pizza came up, and along with it, a new approach that felt more feasible: a culinary collaboration—Target’s Good & Gather pizzas; Kim’s recipes.

Kim invited the Target team for a working lunch at Young Joni so they could get a sense of her genre-bending menu of signature pizzas and Korean dishes. Once the executives tasted her kimchi, they wanted to expand the collaboration beyond frozen pizzas.

“Chef Ann Kim is fearless with food, tapping into global influences and her own Korean heritage to create truly unforgettable meals,” Target’s chief merchandising officer of food, essentials, and beauty Lisa Roath said in a statement. “I can’t wait for everyone to try the bold and unique twists that have made Chef Ann a can’t-miss in the Twin Cities dining scene.”

Kim had some experience producing packaged foods at scale from working with Schwan’s. “It’s definitely different, doing something in the restaurant versus producing for mass,” Kim said. “But the limitations make me more creative.”

Kim’s Target appetizers include bulgogi meatballs and corn cheese bites. In addition to the pickle pie wood fired pizza, the collection includes a four cheese with sweet and spicy chili sauce, a spicy sausage and uncured pepperoni and jalapeno.

“The crust was a non-negotiable for me. I told them, ‘I’m going to obsess about the crust.’” Kim said. “And it’s great—crispy, light, airy.”

But the appetizers really allowed Kim’s family influences to shine. “The corn cheese ball is a modern take on Korean street food—crispy, gooey, cheesy. And when it comes to dumplings, most people think pork or shrimp. But a traditional Korean dumpling is filled with kimchi. I grew up eating that.”

She also grew up shopping at Target. Kim was four when her family immigrated from South Korea and settled in Apple Valley. “Going to Target was a meaningful event back in the day,” she said. “It’s where I would run into my friends, buy Aqua Net. It’s where I got my first Sony Walkman.” Apple Valley was the first suburb to get a Target Greatland store in 1990 and Kim recalled, “it was the biggest thing ever in our city.”

The Good & Gather + Ann Kim products will be available for a limited time; Target did not specify the duration, but did say that the pickle pie and peperoni and jalapeno pizzas will remain on shelves throughout the year. Target said additional Good & Gather Collabs are on the way.