Frozen food sales are expected to pick up momentum again this year in Spain as the economy starts to show prolonged signs of emerging from seven years of crisis. But while one research group, DBK, predicts there could be a 1% rise in value for frozen products, they could still slip by some 0.5% in volume says another, Kantar World Panel. What both agree on is that the most promising segment for future expansion will be preprepared meals and other products offering added value.
“While the outlook is improving compared with the last two years, it is still fairly negative,” says Joan Riera, food sector director at Kantar, which produces reports on the Spanish food market for the giant biennial food fair, Alimentaria. He points to three main factors likely to restrict growth in home consumption of frozen food, led by Spanish supermarket chains pushing for greater sales in fresh products at the expense of traditional outlets such as public market stallholders.Worrisome newsCompanies like Mercadona, the biggest seller of frozen food, followed by other discounts, “are seeing packaged products as reaching their limits and that traditional fresh foods are a good sector to get into,” he says. Then there is the feel-good factor of more people eating out again with the improving economy, which leads to a consequent reduction in meals taken at home. “But perhaps the most worrying for frozen food producers is one of growing negative perception. In 2006, 55% of people thought frozen was as good as fresh, but that had dropped to 49% in 2014.”
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