Market Trends of United Arab Emirates Frozen Food Industry
This section covers the major market trends shaping the UAE Frozen Food Market according to our research experts:
Escalating Demand for Ready-to-Eat and Convenience Food Products
- Consumers in the United Arab Emirates are looking for convenience food products such as ready-to-eat products and meals. The research and development leading to innovation in food products via new and innovative frozen food technologies are propelling market demand. Frozen meals are enticing to consumers due to their hectic lifestyles, which do not permit them to invest much time in cooking, but they require food products with high nutritional content. In addition to this, the wider availability of convenience food products via different sales channels, such as both online and offline availability, is attracting consumers towards them.
- Also, the demand for packaged food products is rising in the United Arab Emirates, attributed to rising urbanization and a high percentage of tourists and expatriates. For instance, According to Dubai's Department of Economy and Tourism (DET), Between January and December 2021, Dubai hosted 7.28 million international overnight visitors, a 32% year-on-year (YoY) growth. The rise in consumers (including both residents and tourists) is fuelling demand for processed, canned, frozen, and ready-to-eat food products.
- The new-age consumers in the country (especially millennials) are sophisticated when it comes to their food shopping and eating habits; they spend on high-quality and healthy food. Most food and beverage chains continue to innovate and experiment with multiple product offerings and models to cater to this growing consumer segment.
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Frozen Ready Meals is the Fastest Growing Segment
- Frozen ready meals are those meals that are precooked and packaged and then frozen for further sale in the market. The frozen-ready meals are more appealing to consumers as they are a convenient alternative to cooking, thereby enhancing their use by the working population.
- Working people have to spend less time on cooking and thereby increasingly prefer frozen food products or precooked meals such as meatballs, veg meals, etc. Additionally, there is a high demand from customers for frozen food products that have been halal-certified. Prominent players such as Ta'moosh are offering frozen gourmet ready-to-eat halal dishes to maintain a significant share in the UAE market.
- Thus, all the above-mentioned factors are supporting the demand for frozen and convenience food products in the United Arab Emirates.
