Conagra Brands’ frozen food is “just getting warmed up.”
The $79 billion frozen foods market is “just getting warmed up” for Conagra Brands, Inc., according to president and CEO Sean M. Connolly.
Citing IRI data for the year ended December 25, 2022, Mr. Connolly stated that the Chicago-based company, which produces Birds Eye, Marie Callender’s, Healthy Choice, and Banquet, is the biggest player in the frozen food market in the US with $6.5 billion in sales. When Mr. Connolly first started working for the company eight years ago, he said that the food quality was “horrible” and that there was “virtually no innovation” in the industry. He also mentioned that shops were concentrating on “ultra-low price points.”
Conagra Brands has since developed a “relentless stream of innovation in the frozen space,” he claimed, and he attributes the category’s current status as “a vibrant area driving total retail store sales” to those efforts.
During a presentation on February 21 at the Consumer Analyst Group of New York conference in Boca Raton, Mr. Connolly stated, “Now to win in frozen, you have to have scale and you have to have scope, and we have both.” “We compete in the following five frozen categories: breakfast, sweets, plant-based protein, veggies & sides, and dinners. These regions are vast and expanding in all directions.
The company has added premium features and ingredients that appeal to contemporary consumers to its four “juggernaut” frozen brands. According to Mr. Connolly, the frozen foods market will continue to grow as a result of a number of customer changes.
In the future, he stated, “there are a number of frozen tailwinds, starting with family formation; yes, millennials and Gen Zs are settling down.” “They’re starting to become parents. Their frozen consumption increases by category when it occurs. It keeps rising as they have more and more children. There is a tailwind there.
Furthermore, we think that the move to working remotely and dining at home will continue to be higher than they were prior to the pandemic, which is beneficial for business.Finally, it’s hard to refute the idea that frozen food delivers a better relative value than perishable or food obtained outside of the home, which is advantageous for businesses.
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Marie Callender’s decadent side dishes, such as a green bean casserole and cheesy potato casserole, her no-sugar apple pie, and Healthy Choice Power Bowls with trendy seafood options are just a few of the upcoming frozen innovations from Conagra Brands. Fresh options from Birds Eye include fire-roasted Brussels sprouts, buffalo cauliflower dip, spinach and artichoke dip, and Birds Eye Fusions, which blends “elevated vegetables and sauces,” according to Mr. Connolly.
“We will not stop adding to our Gardein Ultimate line,” he stated. Our knowledge of bowls is extensive. So why not introduce bowling to the fantastic Gardein Ultimate lineup?…
The portfolios of brands Purple Carrot, Kid Cuisine, La Choy, and PF Chang’s Home Menu are enhanced by further new frozen food releases.Frozen is “the perfect temperature state for today’s consumers,” according to Mr. Connolly.”Almost anything you can think of in the frozen section can be flash frozen at its freshest point; it’s convenient and available when customers want it to be,” he said. Food deterioration and waste are minimal. In essence, you may have restaurant-caliber results at home when done correctly and at a very reasonable cost.We therefore believed that “if you can dream it, we can freeze it” when it came to frozen.