Market Trends of Frozen-cooked Ready Meals Industry
Surge in Demand for Convenient and Healthy Ready Meals
The demand for convenient and instant food, particularly frozen-cooked ready meals, is growing at a faster pace due to changes in social and economic patterns, as well as increased expenditure on food and beverage, awareness about healthy foods, changes in meal patterns and existing food habits, increasing settlement of ex-pat population across the regions and the desire to taste new products. Gen Z and millennial consumers are turning toward healthy, nutritious, as well as convenient options to supplement their cooking routines and cope with their hectic schedules. The increasing purchasing power of young consumers, along with rising disposable income allowing consumers to spend more on convenience food products, is propelling the growth of the market in the studied period. Moreover, the on-the-go food concept is closely associated with easy consumption and handling of products, which ready meals can offer. Thus, the demand for frozen-cooked ready meals is increasing due to the linked convenience of consumption and aided by disposable packaging simultaneously.
Similarly, these frozen-cooked ready meals require minimum or no further preparation before consumption. With technological innovations in the food industry, convenience food includes ready meals in frozen, portion-controlled, shelf-stable, microwaveable, and prepared-mixes formats. Therefore, to cater to the consumers' demand for shelf-stability and convenience, manufacturers are innovating in terms of formulation, which may be carried everywhere without spilling and has a long shelf life. Moreover, a significant portion of the population has access to these ready-meal options due to the increased penetration of these products in the market. Since the transforming consumer habits promote smaller frequent meals, consumers tend to buy these ready meals more often, which is expected to propel the market shortly.
North America holds the majority share
Consumers in North America are inclined towards consuming frozen ready meals due to the ease of preparation, low nutrition loss, and the extended product life of meat, poultry, and fish, which are gaining popularity across the vast consumer base country. The rising working population in the United States has influenced the consumer's reliability of frozen-cooked ready meals. For instance, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the employment-population rate stood at 60.1% in May 2022, compared with 58.0% in May 2021. Thus, the growing busy and hectic lifestyle is expected to accelerate the growth of frozen-cooked ready meals during the forecast period in the country.
Similarly, consumers are focusing on consuming new and innovative healthy and vegan food products that have a better nutritional profile and have been made using organic and natural ingredients. Moreover, Asian and Mediterranean cuisines, among others, offer a plethora of food options that are both vegetarian and high in nutrition, as compared to meat-intensive western cuisine. North American consumers are spending on more expensive food items and opting for premium frozen-cooked ready meals. In February 2021, the American Frozen Food Institute reported that frozen food sales were up 21% in 2020. In the United States, several brands are carving out their niches in the frozen-cooked ready meals market and selling meals showcasing dishes from the African continent.
