Slideshow: Trendy frozen food innovation
According to Anne-Marie Roerink, president of 210 Analytics LLC in San Antonio, customers are becoming more engaged with restaurants, which is making competition for food dollars more fierce. Frozen foods remain a pandemic powerhouse despite the change. Food and beverage sales for the first 30 weeks of the year totaled $386 billion, a 1.1% decrease over the same time in 2020, according to data from Information Resources, Inc. (IRI), Chicago. At 22%, frozen goods saw the biggest increase from 2019’s pre-pandemic normal.
According to Ms. Roerink, “strong trips, high household penetration, and an elevated basket size supported frozen food’s dominance in 2020.” Nevertheless, during three of the four weeks in July 2021, trips and basket size either match or surpass the 2020 numbers. That explains the continued high sales levels for frozen food when compared to the pre-pandemic 2019 baseline and a return to prior year levels.”
Sales for every week in July 2021 came in close to $1.3 billion, according to IRI data. For all of them, this meant double-digit increases over the baseline from before the epidemic in 2019.
According to Ms. Roerink, “two of the four weeks in July managed to post sales gains over the highly elevated 2020 levels.” “This is encouraging for the upcoming weeks and months.”
Breakfast items (11.8% in July 2021 compared to July 2020) and dinners/entrees (4.3%) are two significant areas driving the growth. Additional noteworthy categories include processed chicken (10.4%), frozen meat (2.7%), and appetizers/snacks (12.2%).
“Looks like at least some consumers are moving to frozen protein as the fresh meat department is dealing with significant inflation, much like seen in 2020,” Ms. Roerink stated.
Consumers are battling pandemic food fatigue because to innovation across the board. Additionally, a number of applications concentrate on improved formulations to help with weight management and improving physical fitness.
“Consumers seek diverse food options that cater to their distinct lifestyles, all the while ensuring quality and affordability,” stated Megan Smargiasso, brand manager at Nestle USA, located in Solon, Ohio, about Life Cuisine. “In order to meet those needs with pertinent, in-style meals, Life Cuisine is utilizing a fast innovation model to launch new products with fast prototyping and consumer testing.”
“While this past year certainly brought tragedy and immense struggles, it also created a revived interest in the universal tradition of gathering around the table for a meal,” stated Adnan Durrani, chief executive officer and founder of Saffron Road, Stamford, Conn.large family dinner that unites houses with different generations.”
In response, Saffron Road has introduced family-size packs of two of its top-selling single-serve Asian-inspired dinners. These include the recently introduced pineapple fried rice with chicken, as well as chicken pad Thai and chicken biryani.
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“With our delicious and healthy offerings in our family size line, we want to make it easy and convenient for families to continue the elevated at-home dining experience, but we also want to share the joy that delicious international foods can bring,” Mr. Durrani stated.