The popularity of frozen foods has been increasing across the globe, especially in developing countries like China and India, due to the fact that these foods can be stored and used over a long period and also due to the convenience of saving time and efforts in food preparation. The most widely used frozen food products are, ready-to-eat meals, meat & poultry, fruits & vegetables, soups, and seafood.
The frozen food market caters to both retail and business customers. Retail customers include individuals and households, while the business customers of frozen food are, hotels, caterers, fast-food outlets, and others. Among retail customers, cooked and semi-cooked ready-to-eat food, soups, and meat are highly popular, but business customers mostly demand frozen seafood, meat, frozen potatoes and other vegetables, frozen dough, etc.
The frozen food market is witnessing high growth and is projected to reach a value of around USD 282.5 billion by 2023, from USD 219.9 billion in 2018. The market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 5.1% during the period from 2018 to 2023. The growth of the market can be attributed to a number of factors, such as the increasing number of retail channels (supermarkets, hypermarkets, convenience stores, etc.), rising per capita income, and the increasing number of working women across the globe.
Changing lifestyles and a change in customer preference and taste will also propel the growth of the global frozen food market. Further, the hectic lifestyle of working professional has fuelled the demand for frozen and ready-to-eat food. Other factors that are going to boost the global frozen food market and create lucrative opportunities in the coming years are, technological advancements and improvements in cold chain logistics, increasing adoption of automation in food production, distribution, and packaging, and the easy availability of seasonal fruits and vegetables in frozen form.
Europe has been dominating the frozen food market since 2013, closely followed by North America. In the coming years, the region will provide huge growth potentials for the frozen food market. However, the Asia-Pacific region is expected to witness high growth in the coming years.
The major players in the global frozen food market are A.G., General Mills Inc., Kraft Foods Group Inc., McCain Food Limited, Ajinomoto Co. Inc., Cargill Incorporated, Europastry S.A., JBS S.A, Kellogg Company, Nestle S.A., and Flower Foods, among others.
The global frozen food industry has been witnessing a spurt in investments, especially in new freezing and processing technologies. Companies operating in the industry are already using high pressure processing and self-heating packaging for frozen food. Soon, canned foods that can self-heat and de-freeze the ready-to-eat food products are going to be introduced in the market. All these will translate into market growth and opportunities for the market players and more convenience for customers.
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