Health, convenience and food waste are key factors that determine what food consumers buy – and when it comes to ticking these boxes, frozen produce seems to have it all.
The sector is slowly but surely shaking off the out-of-date image of watery, frozen cauliflower florets and tasteless carrot batons, through its infallible ability to cut waste and some on-trend new product launches.
Frozen’s re-entry to the foodie fashion scene was perhaps cemented recently when Tesco launched the most in-vogue produce item of them all – the sainted avocado – in a frozen format. But even before that, the escalatingpopularity of smoothies and juices, as well as cooking programmes inspiring home chefs to turn to frozen berries as the final flourish at a dinner party, meant frozen produce has had something going for a while.
Traditionally the sector has been dominated by garden peas and mainstay vegetables, but as Simon Harrington, managing director of frozen supplier and Pinguin Foods subsidiary Harringtons explains, this is starting to change.
“Some traditional sectors are performing well, while others struggle,” he says. “Carrots, for example, are declining by almost 15 per cent year on year in volume, but broccoli is growing by 5.7 per cent. Garden peas remain the key sector with 22 per cent of all produce volume sales, but the sector is in decline by 5.7 per cent, and has lost over 6,000 in tonnage sales in the last two years. Mixed veg commands 12.6 per cent of all volume sales, but again this high-share sector is in decline (-4.8 per cent).”
Brian Young, chief executive of British Frozen Food Federation (BFFF), says the frozen food market as a whole is performing well, helped by expanding ranges to include products such as diced onions, sliced peppers and ready-to-cook garlic. “The frozen retail food market is in a position to capitalise on the increasing need for convenience, as well as expanding NPD,” says Young, who believes the growth of home delivery, with new players such as Amazon entering the market, will further benefit frozen produce as an easily transportable format.
Although Harrington says the total category is seeing value decline of 1.4 per cent, co-managing director of frozen retailer Iceland, Nigel Broadhurst, says the company is seeing growth across frozen fruit and vegetables “as consumers grow more aware of the benefits of frozen food”. With intrinsic health benefits due to ‘pausing’ the natural loss of nutrients that occurs after produce is harvested, Broadhurst says consumers are also waking up to frozen produce’s link with less food waste.
“We are seeing good growth in frozen fruit as the trends towards smoothies and healthier eating in general gain momentum,” he adds. “The most successful innovations we have seen are in what are perceived to be healthier products, such as sweet potato, kale and asparagus. We expect this trend to continue.”
But it may not be enough for frozen produce retailers to wait for consumers to work it out themselves. Harrington continues: “Obviously frozen produce stands to benefit from this health trend, however, consumers needs guidance and constant reminding that frozen produce exists at all, with purchase frequency standing at just under one purchase a month, as opposed to fresh produce at twice a week.
“I believe the biggest opportunities for the category are making products more convenient and highlighting the health message in a better way than it currently is,” he says. “Convenience and health are two big drivers for shoppers, and frozen produce fits the bill perfectly, but it isn’t being translated into sales at the till.”
One fresh produce supplier that is making inroads into frozen via the profitable berry category is Berry Gardens. The company currently supplies Waitrose, M&S and Costco with frozen berries, which retain their shape when defrosted meaning they are perfect for desserts such as pavlovas, and other cooking purposes.
“As a general comment I would say the market continues to grow,” says communications manager Janine Hatfield. “We have recently introduced a 1kg frozen raspberry pack into Costco, suggesting that customers want larger packs as they are eating more berries.”
Hatfield predicts a lot of the future growth will be from the demand for fruit for smoothies, a belief that is shared by Harrington, who adds: “The rise of juicers, smoothie makers and blenders is an area which is yet to be explored in any deep and meaningful way.”
Exploring new packaging formats for frozen produce, such as Berry Gardens’ larger frozen raspberries packs, is one way the sector could target more sales in convenience stores, Harrington believes. “Frozen produce isn’t sold particularly well in convenience stores, yet are the ultimate in convenience products,” he notes. “Surely there is a job to be done in communicating this message, as the long-term benefits to the category could be enormous. This is where packaging plays its part. Are there opportunities to look at more convenient packaging formats for these stores, to target the ‘I’m eating for now’ consumer?”
The future for frozen produce certainly sounds far from icy, and with retail price deflation on fresh looking likely to become permanent it may well be worth considering the sector as a viable income stream. All that remains is to ask, who will be the first frozen produce supplier to jump on Disney’s Frozen marketing juggernaut and send this sector skating into the future?
Peas campaign powers into 2016
The consumer-facing Yes Peas! campaign, now in its 11th year, promoted the nation’s favourite frozen product during 2015 through recipe e-books, infographics, press packs and branded merchandise. Fronted by TV chef Rachel Green, who develops recipes for website Peas.org, last year the campaign also launched the UK’s Young Pea Chef of the Year competition, aimed at inspiring children to see peas as exciting ingredients and send in pea-inspired recipes.
Tim Mudge, commercial manager at British Growers Association, said: “Britain is the biggest producer and consumer of frozen peas in Europe and we’re always thinking of new and innovative ways to engage with families nationwide to see peas as a versatile and nutritious ingredient. 2015 was a great year for us and the development of the Young Pea Chef of the Year competition has had resounding support from press, bloggers and families alike. We’re looking forward to continuing this through to 2016, creating more of a bang and putting even more peas on the nation’s plates.”
Frozen avocados: Tesco Q&A
How long were the frozenavocados in development for?
Although not available in the UK, frozen avocados could be bought in the American market. We worked with our suppliers for around six months to get this great product into our stores.
What new processes had to be put in place and was this provided by Tesco or the supplier?
A new process wasn’t put in place, it used an existed method called IQF (Individual Quick Freezing), which allows frozen fruits and vegetables to maintain the same farm-fresh conditions for the duration of their shelf-life with minimal changes to the original colour, texture and
flavour.
How has the consumer response been to the new frozen avos?
The frozen avocados are selling well and the response from customers has been very positive as they save time and help prevent waste.
What other fresh products do you feel have potential to be offered in frozen formats?
We always look for opportunities to help customers with their shopping choices, but at this stage we do not have specific plans to announce.
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