The market for battered and breaded foods encompasses a steadily widening range of products, reports Jonathan Thomas.
The appeal of coated foods in Europe shows no sign of abating. Coated foods are widely appreciated as an affordable treat or mealtime option by many people, offering an appealing combination of taste, texture and convenience of preparation.
The chicken-based products sector represents the market’s largest, with chicken burgers, chicken nuggets, chicken escalopes and popcorn chicken amongst the most popular consumer options. The second most important protein is fish and seafood, where popular options include coated fish fillets, as well as fish fingers and calamari. Other varieties of coated foods include potato croquettes, breaded vegetables and breaded cheese bites, as well as products positioned as meat and fish substitutes to cater towards those following plant-based diets.
Innovation levels within the coatings market remain high. Much of the recent NPD has been geared towards the development of crispier and crunchier textures, via the incorporation of ingredients such as corn starches and modified potato starches, as well as seeds and nuts.
There is also a growing demand within the industry for coatings which stay crispier for longer periods, driven in part by the recent growth of the food delivery market.
Research conducted in the US by Ingredion Ingredients in 2023 found that 14% of consumers claimed that fried chicken was lacking in crispiness when eaten. Manufacturers have also been experimenting with ingredients to reduce oil absorption during the frying process, thereby producing coated foods with a less greasy and/or soggy mouthfeel. Corn dextrins have been used, for example, to create a protective film layer which reduces the amount of oil picked up, as well as various other protein-based systems.
In addition to preventing oil absorption, these can also help stop moisture from being lost during the frying process. Another noteworthy trend has been increased use of grains and seeds within coatings, not only to improve texture but to address health considerations – in the Austrian market, for example, the Iglo range was recently extended with new Fried Chicken Strips featuring sesame seeds and chopped pumpkin seeds.
In markets such as the UK, the number of coated foods featuring buttermilk has increased in both retail and foodservice channels. In addition to its acidic properties (which help to tenderise the protein), buttermilk also boasts a thicker texture, with the result that it crisps up well during the cooking process.
Retail Trends
Coated foods are widely sold throughout the European retail industry. The retail market is dominated by a handful of large multinational suppliers and their brands, of which Nomad Foods (owner of brands such as Birds Eye and Iglo) is the largest, although sales of own-label products are also high in markets such as the UK.
Although most coated foods are purchased primarily as meal components, there is also a sizeable market for products eaten during in-home social occasions such as parties and buffets. Within the large UK market, some of the most popular varieties of frozen coated fish and seafood in the year ending October 2023 included fish fingers (worth GBP205m), battered fish fillets (worth GBP199m), breaded fish fillets (worth GBP155m) and fish cakes (worth GBP23m).
Together, these four sectors accounted for a combined 55% of the total market for frozen seafood at the retail level. Most sectors experienced year-on-year growth in value terms, although this was largely due to rising prices, with volume sales falling in many categories. The one exception was the fish fingers sector, where market volume rose by over 24%.
Some of the recent market growth can be attributed to rising demand for what Nomad Foods has termed ‘fakeaways’, i.e. products resembling those experienced in foodservice establishments, but which could be purchased from retail outlets. One leading example is the company’s Chicken Shop range, which encompasses products such as chicken strips, goujons, nuggets and burgers. In many western European markets, manufacturers have been attempting to introduce more premium coated foods to compete with the foodservice industry.
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