The latest frozen food retail statistics show that frozen food continues to perform well, with value growth across almost every category in the 52 weeks to June 18, 2018.
The numbers, provided by Kantar Worldpanel, value the retail frozen food market as a whole at over £6.1bn with 5.4% value growth year-on-year.
So far this year, the pizza category continues to lead, followed by savoury food, which includes frozen bread savoury bakery and other frozen foods. These two categories are driving growth with a combined increase in value of over £100m year-on-year. The categories also saw 6.4% and 2.6% volume growth respectively year-on-year, and now represent 16% of the value of the total frozen food retail market.
Another category performing well is ice-cream which has seen a 7.7% value and 0.8% volume growth. The recent hot weather sparked a peak in market growth for the category, with over 16.6 million UK households choosing to pick up an ice cream as temperatures soared. With more good weather forecast, further growth seems likely.
John Hyman, Chief Executive of British Frozen Food Federation, said: “This quarter’s results are particularly encouraging with almost across the board value growth as well as exceptional volume growth, the category is outstripping growth of several leading retailers.
“What we’re seeing is testament to the fact that frozen food, particularly ice cream and savoury food such as meat products, is ideally placed to tap into the trends underpinning consumer eating habits. Consumers are still buying traditional products like ice cream, but NPD is driving them to incorporate more savoury products into their daily diets, which is good news for the frozen food industry.
“More and more people are heading to the frozen food aisles where they know they can get restaurant quality products to enjoy at home. Frozen makes it easier to access convenient and nutritious food such as frozen fish, which has also seen a 3.1% value increase in sales over the last year.”
