Frozen peas

Last month, Waitrose reported that a surge in sales of a number of frozen fruit lines had helped its overall sales to a near 50 per cent rise compared to the year before.

The rise of frozen fruit – which consumers are increasingly seeing as an easy ingredient for breakfasts and smoothies – is firing the category overall, and supplier Ardo expects to see double-digit growth in frozen fruit for the second successive year.

It comes at a time when Kantar Worldpanel figures also show the frozen vegetable sector to be in rude health and now worth almost £500 million [52 w/e 7 December 2014]. Frozen potatoes are similarly seeing value and volume growth.

According to British Frozen Food Federation (BFFF) chief executive Brian Young, the rise in availability of premium frozen ingredients across the retailers is wining new consumers to the category. No longer are freezer cabinets the preserve solely of products such as peas or broccoli, but there are now also chopped herbs, chillies and garlic to be found.

Other typically time-consuming products to prepare, such as buttenut squash, chopped onion and peppers are finding their way into the freezer aisles.

At a macro level, post-recession issues such as waste and sustainability are continuing to give the frozen category a boost. “Even now, the after-effects of the recession can still be seen with the popularity of comparison websites and the rise of the discounters,” says Ardo’s marketing manager Stuart Hiscott. “Consumers are savvier with how they perform their weekly shop. This, along with healthier eating, has maintained an interest in the frozen food industry.”

Young believes that the industry as a whole has a responsibility to show consumers the benefits of frozen when it comes to waste. Both food security and waste will be major strands of the BFFF’s 2015 marketing campaign.

“We want to highlight the role that increasing the use of freezing technology for fruit and vegetables can play in reducing the amount of good, edible food that is wasted in the supply chain,” Young explains.

The federation is also working with bloggers to highlight to parents the wide range of available frozen products and how they can help in producing healthy and convenient family meals.

The Yes Peas! campaign will also be continuing its focus on making consumers aware of the versatility of the product, according to a spokeswoman.

It’s not all good news for the category though – recent IGD research indicated that younger shoppers are shunning freezer food, suggesting there is a need for better education for the next generation, something Hiscott agrees with. “The housing market is rife with first-time buyers who are typically young individuals finding their way and starting to shop independently,” he says. “These individuals are the perfect segment of focus as they are commonly looking to shop with tight budgets and are open to new ideas and ways of cutting back.”

Young believes that a shift in attitudes by TV chefs is helping, with celebrities moving away from purely talking up fresh food. “More recently, chefs such as Jamie Oliver and Jimmy Doherty have talked about the benefits of frozen and made use of frozen ingredients in their recipes. Our industry is working hard to dispel myths about frozen and to continue to demonstrate the nutritional and waste-reducing benefits of using more frozen produce.”