Germany has the largest frozen food market in Europe, with total retail and food service sales of €12.8 billion in 2014 according to the German Frozen Food Institute (DTI).
Courtesy of Mintel
With an estimated 17,000 different products available, frozen foods enjoy great popularity among German consumers, not least because of their strong credentials in relation to freshness, value and convenience. In fact, the annual per capita consumption of frozen foods continues to grow in Germany, passing the 42kg mark in 2014.
According to the DTI, the top-line development within the overall German frozen food market remained positive in 2014, helped by a strong performance of frozen food in the out-of-home market. Yet, the year also showed that the German frozen market was not immune to the challenges of the discount-dominated grocery retail environment, as frozen food volume sales through grocery retail channels went into decline for the first time after several years of growth.
Growing consumer interest in fresh foods and a shift towards out-of-home consumption are also taking its toll on retail frozen food sales in Germany, despite the leading store chains’ efforts to improve the appeal of the frozen food aisles for consumers to trade up. In such a challenging market environment, the importance of value-adding innovation in order to protect margins and maintain market share is becoming more apparent.
Over the past five years, NPD activity in frozen foods has been stagnant in Germany, while chilled products have been making significant progress in attracting attention. The growing proportion of high-quality chilled products with emphasis on freshness, convenience and ethical values such as local sourcing and animal welfare is now posing an increasing threat to the freezer aisle offerings, piling pressure on the German frozen food industry to step up innovation efforts.
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