TOTAL CONSTRUCTION
Why Australians are falling in love with ready-to-eat meals
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a positive impact on the ready-meals market.
The ready-to-eat meals market has experienced rapid growth in the last two years and Total Construction continues to be well poised to help companies expand operations. Food & Beverage Industry News explains.
T
he ready-to-eat meal sector has experienced strong growth over the past two years due to several external and internal factors and Total Construction has been at the contracting forefront of the boom. “Our owner likes to say we are a 10-year overnight success,” said Rob Blythman, general manager, engineering construction group at Total Construction. “The UK basically has a shop on every corner and a lot of people pick up their ready-to-eat meal and head home. “For the longest time Australia had the mentality they were the equivalent of a TV dinner, which is not what ready-to-eat is. “That might have been the biggest hurdle to get over; the past
perceptions of what ready-to-eat meals can be and now are.” Some time ago Total Construction was able to employ the services of ready-to-eat sector expert, Tony Tate, who had observed the sector’s growth in the United Kingdom. “Tony is our general manager of the food and beverage division,” said Blythman. “He worked in the United Kingdom when the ready-to-eat sector was going gangbusters but at the time it never seemed to gain and traction in Australia.” Tate now provides Total Construction with his expertise, including his insights into the readymeals market. “We have been on top of it for the last eight to 10 years and we got Tony
28 Food&Beverage Industry News | February 2022 | www.foodmag.com.au
in for his expertise in the area. We have just been waiting for it to take off and it finally has,” said Blythman. Tate was up to the challenge of helping Total Construction build its presence in the ready meals market. “I came over to Australia 21 years ago to mirror the ready meals format from the UK,” said Tate. “At the time Australia was using more of an American model, which is more about frozen food, mainly because of the logistical challenges presented by Australia’s large size. “Frozen meals were hard to market so the concept was to produce fresh ready meals. The only downside is the price to produce the ready meals at the time was pretty high in comparison to going out for an occasion.”
Tate said the UK’s ready meals market had remained strong because of the ease with which the products could be transported around the country and within a short window of time. “The UK market follows the fresh food model, so no more than a seven-day shelf life and the logistics arm could reach any part of England within five hours total. We could also reach Europe the following morning,” said Tate. “It is a small footprint in the UK, but the ready meals market was, and is, a big one.” Despite its long-term popularity in the UK, Australia only started to experience some noticeable market growth over the past two years, said Blythman.
