Abstract
The ready meals market has stalled following a period of strong and sustained growth. The category has been hit by a barrage of criticism over the fat, salt and additive content of ready meals. Consumers have been showing growing interest in scratch cooking and the provenance of ingredients and the ready meals category has inevitably suffered.
The key issue in the market is whether suppliers of ready meals have done enough to stimulate renewed market growth. Recipes have been revamped and new ranges launched targeted at consumers looking for a premium ready meal, a healthy meal or a new eating experience. Despite the NPD, the category faces intense competition, especially from strongly growing ready-to-cook products. Cookery writers are also endorsing shortcuts in scratch cooking.
A change in the perception of ready meals is hampered by the dominance of own-brands in the category, which tends to limit promotional spending on brands. There is evidence that perceptions of ready meals, especially of frozen ready meals, are changing. The hypothesis considered in the report is: ' innovation is rekindling interest in ready meals and the market is set to resume its earlier growth pattern.'
Main themes of the report:
- Whether recent NPD in ready meals has done enough to counteract perceptions that they are inconsistent with healthy eating.
- Is there enough resurgence of interest in frozen food products to counteract the long term downward trend in this segment of the market?
- Can ready meals appeal to a broader range of consumers than the solitary consumer with neither the time nor the inclination to take care over meal preparation.
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