Europe Frozen Ready Meals Market – Industry Trends and Forecast to 2029

Analyse et perspectives du marché des plats cuisinés surgelés en Europe

Le marché européen des plats préparés surgelés connaît une croissance plus rapide en raison du mode de vie effréné des consommateurs. Le nombre croissant de personnes qui modifient leurs habitudes alimentaires et adoptent un régime alimentaire équilibré et un mode de vie actif est un élément majeur de la croissance du secteur des plats préparés surgelés. Partout dans le monde, les gens ont un mode de vie frénétique et préfèrent donc les plats préparés pour économiser de l'énergie et du temps, ce qui favorise la croissance du marché. Cependant, les prix élevés des plats préparés surgelés peuvent freiner la croissance du marché.

De nombreuses entreprises prennent des décisions stratégiques, comme le lancement de plats préparés surgelés innovants et l'acquisition d'autres entreprises pour améliorer leur part de marché. En conséquence, le marché mondial des plats préparés surgelés connaît une croissance rapide. La consommation croissante de poulet, de bœuf et de fruits de mer surgelés ouvrira de nouvelles opportunités pour le marché mondial. En revanche, la concurrence entre les acteurs du marché pourrait remettre en cause la croissance du marché.

Data Bridge Market Research analyse que le marché européen des plats préparés surgelés connaîtra un TCAC de 5,6 % au cours de la période de prévision de 2022 à 2029.

Market Definition

Frozen-ready meals are usually cooked and packaged in a factory. This process includes heating the ingredients and packaging them into containers. Once the meal is prepared and placed in a freezer to cool down, they are popular among consumers because they provide a diverse menu and are convenient to prepare. Frozen meals may contain a meat entree, a vegetable, and starch-based food such as pasta and sauce. Some frozen meals are prepared specifically for vegetarians or individuals with certain dietary needs. The manufacture of such a product requires careful attention from the food processor.

Europe Frozen Ready Meals Market Dynamics

Drivers

• Rising preference for ready-to-eat organic foods

In recent years, ready-to-eat food has evolved as one of the most diversified sections of the global ready-meal business. A growth in convenience patterns and an increase in demand for organic meals have led to a growing need for organic frozen packaged meals. The organic frozen food and beverage sector is another stop for on-the-go consumers, offering anything from frozen sweets to appetizers and meals. Organic frozen ready meals are popular among consumers due to their lack of microbiological and fungal contamination. Also, the nutritional and health benefits offered by organic frozen ready meals have led to the growth in market demand. So to appeal to a larger consumer seeking health and flavor, frozen packaged food makers are also integrating nutritious benefits with taste leading to the growth of the global frozen ready meals market. Changing consumer preferences for plant-based, vegan products are paving the way for organic, convenient food products, resulting in increased demand for frozen ready meals in the global market.

Thus, an increase in demand for organic frozen food products with nutritional benefits and ready to cook or ready to eat frozen products which are conveniently available will drive the market of frozen ready meals during the forecasted period.

• The change in lifestyle and eating patterns of consumers

In the fast-paced on-the-go world, half of the population prefers convenience food which aids the consumers in saving time and effort in meal preparation. Owing to fast and busy life, the consumption pattern of consumers shifts from raw food to convenience foods. Also, the rapid urbanization and the changing lifestyle of the people are increasing the demand for frozen ready meals. Due to the constant evolution in the consumption pattern of consumers, convenient food has grown substantially globally because of the expanding consumer health consciousness and increasing urban lifestyles. Along with that, consumers are moving towards a fast-moving corporate setup that diversifies their eating patterns due to less time availability and more workload. Frozen-ready meals are easy to cook, readily available, affordable, and accessible, making them a smart solution to cater to the daily nutritional need of the consumers. Growing consumer health and wellness awareness is hastening the adoption of a healthy lifestyle, increasing acceptance of positive lifestyles, and consuming healthy frozen food, which has preserved nutrients, is moving the Europe frozen ready meals market forward.

In addition, the increasing disposable income is also influencing the demand for convenience foods in households. Globally, the count of quick-service restaurants is increasing promptly, raising the demand for convenience foods. Consequently, the growing consumption of convenience food increases the demand for frozen food products. As a result, it improves the growth of frozen food and drives the Europe frozen-ready meals market.

Opportunities

• An increasing number of initiatives taken by amino acid manufacturers

An increase in the number of initiatives taken by the manufacturers for frozen ready meals, such as product launches, expansion, raised funding, and others, will create a great opportunity for the growth of the global frozen ready meals market. The demand for frozen ready meals is increasing among consumers owing to the hectic schedule, increasing disposable income, and growing demand for ready-to-eat food products to save time for cooking. Consumers' increasing demand for frozen ready meals enables manufacturers to launch new products in the market, expand their manufacturing facility and raise investments to manufacture different frozen ready meals products for varied end-users.

For instance,

• In April 2022, Nomad Foods launched open innovation portal that invites partners to share innovative solutions. The new portal launch helped the company increase the scalability of frozen mussels and other bivalve products

Thus, the increase in the number of frozen ready meals launches, expansion, investment to expand the frozen food business, and other initiatives by manufacturers coupled with rising demand for frozen ready meals among consumers and the food service sector, is expected to create a huge opportunity for manufacturers of frozen ready meals in the market globally.

Restraints/Challenges

• High competition among the market players

The high competition among the existing market players poses a significant challenge for the new players who wish to enter the market as several players are offering various frozen ready meals products in high quality to fulfil the demand of the end-users. The existing players in the market, such as Nestlé, General Mills Inc., Conagra Brands, Inc., The Kraft Heinz Company, Nomad Foods, JBS S/A, and others, offer a large number of different frozen ready meals products and are constantly engaged in launching new products with high-quality, therefore, causing major competition in the market. Moreover, local players and small-scale manufacturers offer low-quality products at lower prices, affecting the global frozen ready meals market. In addition, an increase in manufacturers offering a wide range of frozen ready meals will cause tough competition for the other players in the market.

Increasing players offering high-quality frozen ready meals is a major challenge for new players in the global frozen ready meals market. Moreover, the presence of a large number of major players offering a wide range of products, including frozen pasta, pizza, chicken products, seafood products, and others, to cater to the demand of the consumers will make it difficult for the small-scale manufacturers or local players or new entrants to grow in the market.

• Presence of fats in frozen ready meals

Tran’s fats, which have been linked to heart disease and blocked arteries, are found in packaged or frozen foods. This lipid raises bad cholesterol (LDL) while decreasing good cholesterol (HDL) (HDL). All of this adds to heart disease. Such foods are also heavy in sodium, which can boost cholesterol levels in the body. Also, Frozen foods are incredibly heavy in fat. These foods have an almost double fat-to-carbohydrate-to-protein ratio, which explains why they are high in calories restraining the demand for frozen food among health-conscious consumers.

Furthermore, because frozen meals have a large salt level, they might raise blood pressure. Excess salt consumption also raises the risk of various medical disorders such as stroke and heart disease. As more people are becoming more aware of these effects of frozen food, the more they prefer fresh food over frozen food, hindering the market growth of frozen ready meals.

Thus, as mentioned above, the presence of excess and unhealthy fat in most frozen ready meals may act as a restraining factor for the global frozen ready meals market growth.

Post-COVID-19 Impact on Europe Frozen Ready Meals Market

Post the pandemic, the demand for frozen food products has increased as there won't be any restrictions on movement; hence, the supply of products would be easy. The persistence of COVID-19 for a longer period has affected the supply chain as it got disrupted, and it became difficult to supply the food products to the consumers, initially increasing the demand for products. However, post-COVID, the demand for frozen food products has increased significantly owing to the longer shelf life for frozen food, increasing the demand for convenience food products.

Recent Developments

• In April 2022, Nomad Foods launched open innovation portal that invites partners to share innovative solutions. The new portal launch helped the company increase the scalability of frozen mussels and other bivalve products
• In July 2020, Tyson Foods introduced a new line of chicken products under the Tyson brand in the European Foodservice industry, which includes restaurants, cafeterias, and caterers. This helped the company in increasing its revenue from the food service industry

Europe Frozen Ready Meals Market Scope

The Europe frozen ready meals market is segmented into six segments based on type, category, technology, end user, packaging technique, and distribution channel.

The growth amongst these segments will help you analyze major growth segments in the industries and provide the users with a valuable market overview and market insights to make strategic decisions to identify core market applications.

Types

• Frozen Snacks

• Frozen Pizza
• Frozen Ice Cream
• Frozen Seafood Products
• Frozen Chicken Products
• Frozen Yoghurt
• Frozen Dairy Products
• Frozen Pasta
• Frozen Drinks
• Frozen Vegetarian Meals
• Frozen Sorbet and Sherbet
• Frozen Cakes
• Frozen Wraps & Rolls
• Frozen Custard
• Frozen Soup
• Frozen Quinoa Food Mixes
• Frozen Rice Mixes
• Others

On the basis of type, the global frozen ready meals market is segmented into frozen rice mixes, frozen quinoa food mixes, frozen pizza, frozen pasta, frozen wraps & rolls, frozen snacks, frozen ice cream, frozen yogurt, frozen cakes, frozen sorbet and sherbet, frozen custard, frozen drinks, frozen savory products and frozen soup, frozen dairy products, frozen chicken products, frozen seafood products, and others.

Category

• Organic
• Conventional

On the basis of category, the global frozen ready meals market is segmented into organic and conventional.

Technology

• Flash-Freezing/ Individual Quick Freezing (IQF)
• Belt Freezing
• High Pressure-Assisted Freezing
• Others

On the basis of technology, the global frozen ready meals market is segmented into flash-freezing/ individual quick freezing (IQF), belt freezing, high pressure-assisted freezing, and others.

End-User

• Household/Retail Sector
• Food Service Sector

On the basis of end-user, the global frozen ready meals market is segmented into the food service sector and households.

Packaging Technique

• Frozen Ready Meals Packaging
• Freezing Technique & Equipment

On the basis of packaging technique, the global frozen ready meals market is segmented into freezing technique and equipment and freezing ready meals packaging.

Distribution Channel

• Store Based Retailers
• Non-Store Retailers

On the basis of distribution channel, the global frozen ready meals market is segmented into store-based and non-store retailers.

Europe Frozen Ready Meals Market Regional Analysis/Insights

Europe frozen ready meals market is analyzed, and market size insights and trends are provided based on as referenced above.  

The countries covered in the Europe frozen ready meals market report are Germany, U.K., France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, Switzerland, Russia, Poland, Turkey, Rest of Europe.  

Germany dominates the Europe frozen ready meals market in terms of market share and market revenue. However, the U.K. will be the highest growth rate during the forecast period. This is due to the food service industry's industrialization and the country's economic growth. Europe region's demand for convenience and ready-to-eat food items is increasing, boosting the region's frozen ready meals market.

The country section of the report also provides individual market impacting factors and changes in regulations in the market that impact the current and future trends of the market. Data points, such as new and replacement sales, country demographics, disease epidemiology, and import-export tariffs, are some of the major pointers used to forecast the market scenario for individual countries. In addition, the presence and availability of Europe brands, their challenges faced due to high competition from local and domestic brands, and the impact of sales channels are considered while providing forecast analysis of the country data.

Competitive Landscape and Europe Frozen Ready Meals Market Share Analysis

The competitive Europe frozen ready meals market details the competitors. Details included are company overview, company financials, revenue generated, market potential, investment in research and development, new market initiatives, Europe presence, production sites and facilities, production capacities, company strengths and weaknesses, product launch, product width, and breadth, and application dominance. The above data points only relate to the companies' focus on the Europe frozen ready meals market.

Some of the major players operating in the Europe frozen ready meals market are McCain Foods Limited, Nestlé, Tyson Foods, Inc., BRF Global, General Mills Inc., JBS S/A, Nomad Foods, The Kraft Heinz Company, Dr. Oetker, Kellogg Co., Ajinomoto Co., Inc., McCain Foods Limited, Virto Group among others.

Research Methodology

Data collection and base year analysis are done using data collection modules with large sample sizes. The market data is analyzed and estimated using market statistical and coherent models. In addition, market share analysis and key trend analysis are the major success factors in the market report. The key research methodology used by the DBMR research team is data triangulation which involves data mining, analysis of the impact of data variables on the market, and primary (industry expert) validation. Apart from this, data models include Vendor Positioning grids, Market Time Line Analysis, Market Overview and Guide, Company Positioning Grid, Company Market Share Analysis, Standards of Measurement, Global Vs Regional, and Vendor Share Analysis. Please request an analyst call in case of further inquiry.

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