Just a couple of weeks before Anuga, the world’s largest food and beverage trade show trade show, I had the chance to interview Dr. Sabine Eichner, managing director of the German Frozen Food Institute (dti) about its 60-year anniversary and on the frozen food market in Germany.
By Dan Orehov
Please describe the Institute’s landmarks in the past 60 years of its activity.
The German Frozen Food Institute (dti) is recognized as the spokesman and communication platform of the frozen food industry in Germany. It represents companies from all parts of the frozen food chain: from food production to distribution, logistics, warehousing and technical services. For more than 60 years, starting with the introduction of frozen food products, dti has been communicating the advantages of the category towards consumers, retailers, politicians and the media. In order to do so, we regularly conduct scientific studies that underline the benefits of frozen foods. The “Vitamin study” and the “Carbon footprint for frozen food” are good examples of our efforts to support our members and to provide reliable and trustworthy communication. Frozen food products have a good and well-acknowledged reputation in Germany. This is certainly also due to the continuous and scientifically-based communication of dti.
How has frozen food evolve in Germany, in the past 60 years?
Frozen food in Germany is a real success story – and it is not finished yet. Per-capita consumption of frozen food reached 45.4 kg last year. This represents a peak in the history of our category for the time being, but we are convinced that there is still great growth potential. From the early beginnings, with 6 products (fish and vegetables) in 1955, we have now reached the figure of 17,000 frozen foods that are distributed by retailers. In total, the German frozen market amounts to 3,704bn tons (2016), of which 50.3% is distributed in the out-of-home market. Frozen foods today are irreplaceable in German private households and professional kitchens. Innovation and tailor-made solutions for constantly changing consumer wishes are the key factors for this success.
The full version of this article is available in the September-October print version of FFE
