Consumers are opting for frozen ready meals to meet their basic nutrition requirements in proactive lifestyles. According to Future Market Insights’ recent report, the demand for frozen ready meals is expected to witness steady demands in the foreseeable future. However, the report also addresses that shortcomings in the global cold chain and growing complexities in production of frozen ready meals will continue to remain key market growth impediments.

Key findings from the report reveal that the global frozen ready meals market will expand at a moderate CAGR of 4.3 percent and bring in an estimated revenues worth over US$47 billion. The report analyzed several factors influencing the growth dynamics of the global frozen ready meals market, among which quality and safety are observed to be the key factors influencing the production and the sales of frozen ready meals.

Absolute compliance to quality and safety standards

Companies partaking in the global frozen ready meals market are expected to be compliant to the safety and food quality standards set by regional and global regulatory bodies. Players, namely, General Mills, McCain Foods Ltd., Nestle S.A., Daiya Foods Inc., Dr. Oetker GmbH, Conagra Brands, Inc., Connies Pizza, California Pizza Kitchen, Atkins Nutritionals, Inc., FRoSTA AG and H.J. Heinz are expected to follow production techniques that retain the quality of the frozen ready meals. Moreover, these companies are expected to invest millions in developing methods for making frozen ready meals safer to the common consumer. Collaborating with the right packaging partner will also instrument a greater safety of the frozen ready meals being produced. New machineries are being developed to facilitate the cook-assemble-freeze manufacturing of these meals at a large scale. Cold storage companies are witnessing a consolidation to ensure that the fluctuating storage conditions do not degrade the quality of frozen ready meals.

APEJ to register high demand for frozen ready meals through 2026

The report has provided an intensity map which reveals that a majority of market players will concentrate their production in the Asia-Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) region. The APEJ frozen ready meals market is expected to witness highest and fastest expansion during the forecast period both in terms of production and sales. Consumers in the APEJ region are estimated to be more inclined towards frozen ready meals against fresh meals due to the ease of reheating and thawing over preparing the meals from scratch. Europe and North America are also expected to witness considerable growth in terms of sales of frozen ready meals. Large food chain services in these developed regions will showcase a considerable end-use of frozen ready meals through 2026.

The report further reveals that the global frozen ready meals market will witness highest end-use among food chain services, followed by modern trade outlets. By the end of 2026, more than US$16.6 billion worth of frozen ready meals will be used by food chain services across the globe. The report also reveals that chicken meals will be a top-selling product in the overall frozen ready meals landscape. From 2017 and beyond, more than one-third of revenues procured in the global frozen ready meals market will be accounted by the sales of frozen ready chicken meals.