UK shoppers are waking up to the benefits of frozen foods, but it’s not all down to the pandemic as you may think. The lockdown has driven shoppers to discover what contemporary frozen food brands such as Fieldfare can offer.
In recent months, the UK frozen foods market has seen a rise of 19.7% in sales*, which is a very significant increase during a time when many other sectors are seeing decline. Why is this we ask? What is driving this change in shopper habits. The number one factor in recent months has certainly been the pandemic. Freezing is a natural way of preserving food, giving it a significantly longer shelf life than chilled, whilst keeping in all the nutrients. During the pandemic, people wanted to reduce the number of times they visited shops, but they still wanted the reassurance that they would have good quality convenient solutions to hand.
The pandemic kick-started a change in behaviour, which made people visit the freezers. On finding the freezers, shoppers have found so much more than ice-cream and peas. Consumers, initially through necessity, started trying products that they may have normally bought fresh opening their eyes to an assortment of great products from raw ingredients to prepared solutions and lovely treats.
Frozen can offer shoppers a great value, high quality alternative to chilled with the added bonuses of longer shelf life, less waste and convenience – what’s not to like.
At Fieldfare we believe there are a raft of opportunities to innovate into new categories giving shoppers delicious high quality frozen food whilst meeting their needs for convenience, great value with the reassurance that they are shopping responsibly.
We expect the frozen arena to continue to grow both with existing shoppers buying more categories and more frequently and with premium and health offers bringing a new shopper into the category.
* Source: Nielsen – four weeks ending 28th November 2020
