Ready meals frozen out as diners take time

FAMILIES have turned away from quick frozen dinners in lockdown even as sales of frozen food have risen sharply, new figures show.

The Grocer magazine reported a study by consumer analysts Nielsen that showed an increase in sales of frozen goods in lockdown – however, ready meals have declined in popularity. Richard Harrow, chief executive of the British Frozen Food Federation, a trade body, said the shift could be down to people having more time to cook and becoming less reliant on speedy eats.

“Traditionally, we always find that people who buy ready meals heavily are those who are cash rich, but time poor,” he said. “A lot of people have a lot more time at the moment.”

The figures quoted in The Grocer showed sales of frozen food had risen by £194.8 million in the 12 weeks to April 18, an increase of 16.1 per cent. That equated to 82 million packs of items like frozen peas, fish fingers and chicken nuggets. Meanwhile, research by analysts Kantar showed that sales of ready meals had fallen by just over 15 per cent in the month to April 19.

Mr Harrow said that the overall increase in frozen food had come as people have begun making less trips to the supermarket and planning ahead to make their weekly shop last for longer.

Recent research showed consumers were making fewer trips to the shops each week, but spending more when they got there as they looked to minimise the number of essential journeys out of the house. Mr Harrow said:

“People are thinking, ‘we will only go out once a week, but we will buy things that will last’. Shoppers have been checking their freezers before they go out and taking stock. A challenge our industry has, is that people are more likely to go to the fridge than freezer. We hope this shift will last.”

However, bucking the trend, Waitrose said sales of its own-label ready meals had increased by 64 per cent since lockdown began, while its frozen chicken and prawn paella proved 10 per cent more popular last week than it was a year ago.