Blog

May 12, 2023

Cooking Gets More Convenient as Ready

Welcome to Thomas Insights — every day, we publish the latest news and analysis

Welcome to Thomas Insights — every day, we publish the latest news and analysis to keep our readers up to date on what's happening in industry. Sign up here to get the day's top stories delivered straight to your inbox.

Welcome to this week's edition of the Thomas Index Report.

With Americans working an average of 1,800 hours per year, there isn't always time to prepare lunch during a busy workday. Enter packaged ready meals, powered by frozen food and private label food manufacturing. These are cost-effective alternative dishes that take less time to prepare. In 2021, the global ready meal market size was estimated at $143 billion and is now expected to hit $150 billion in 2022.

When the pandemic hit in 2020, consumers began stocking up on packaged meals with a longer shelf life that catered to convenience. Global shutdowns also contributed to the shift toward affordable and deliverable meals.

Consumer preference for packaged "ready meals" with few preservatives and stable shelf life has increased demand for High Pressure Processing (HPP) technology. HPP tech uses pressure transmitted by water to eliminate pathogens and other spoilage microorganisms. This breakthrough technology can extend shelf life two to threefold without relying on preservatives.

Growing demand for ready meals also impacted the business models of leading grocery retailers like Walmart, Target, and Aldi. All three grocers have integrated cloud kitchens and added packaged breakfast and dinner meals to grocery shelves. Leading retailer Kroger announced a collaboration with Kitchen United to offer prepared meals to customers for pick-up during their grocery visit or for delivery using an app.

As domestic and international travel resumes, we are seeing a two-fold trend also. On one hand, airlines seek quality in-flight catering services. On the other hand, a growing consumer appetite for sustainable packaging calls for more innovation.

With these new innovations, on the Thomasnet.com platform, sourcing for frozen food is up 510% year over year and 22% month over month. And private label food sourcing is up 103% year over year and 12% month over month.

I’m Cathy Ma, and this is the Thomas Index Report.

Image Credit: TIR