The future is frozen Predictions for 2020 and beyond Following a fascinating presentation by Kantar at last November's Industry Forum, BFFF chief executive Richard Harrow looks at the consumer trends that could make 2020 a great year for frozen.
Recent data from Kantar shows growth in the frozen market has slowed compared to 2018. As sales of ice cream dropped due to the cooler and wetter summer, the overall market sales saw value growth of 0.3% versus 4.7% in 2018. (Interestingly, this was higher than chilled food which saw growth of just 0.1%.)
At the Federation, we believe the role frozen food can play in helping consumers control their food waste will become more evident in 2020 and beyond. With consumers still accounting for 70% of the 10m tonnes of food wasted annually, frozen food has a great message to convey: ‘buying frozen food is the smart thing to do for the environment’.
Nevertheless, frozen food is still purchased by 99% of consumers 48 times per year, appearing in 1.3bn baskets. Indeed, while value may be on the weak side, volumes are the second highest ever recorded - clear evidence consumers continue to seek the value and convenience frozen offers.
We also need to reset consumer views that frozen food is processed. Many products we sell in the frozen category, such as vegetables and fish, are natural products where nature’s pause button – freezing – has been used to extend shelf life. Frozen fish is fresher than fresh fish, with frozen being caught and filleted in a matter of hours.
In terms of the channels of purchase, discounters continue to perform well across frozen. However, it is not just Aldi and Lidl; we are also seeing growth in bargain stores as this channel expands its food and frozen food offering.
Even Marks & Spencer highlighted the role frozen food can play in its top 10 trends for 2020. With the ‘king’ of chilled retailers starting to tell consumers ‘buying frozen is the right thing to do’, this could be an amazing year for the category.
With the growth of both Aldi and Lidl forecast to continue for the next few years, we can see that own label will take a bigger share of the market, although this market update by Kantar highlighted a number of branded launches bringing excitement and innovation to the category. These included Birds Eye Perfectly Baked and Green Cuisine ranges, McCain’s Brew City and Gino D’Acampo in Iceland.
Kantar also identified several key consumer trends that frozen is uniquely placed to tap into:
Iceland has also been working hard to capture more spend from consumers with an extensive range relaunch across all parts of the store in September 2019. Kantar has reported that initial market performance has been strong for Iceland, although the launch was backed up with strong incentivisation activity of £5 when spending £20. 24 |
Quick, easy and tasty products at great value
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Focus on meals not proteins
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Healthier with benefits
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Help with assisted and scratch cooking
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Plant-based meals
If you would like to see the full Kantar presentation from November’s Industry Forum, it can be found on the BFFF website: bfff.co.uk/events/bfff-industry-forum-6
