Fresh Convenience Foods in the U.S.

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During 2008 and 2009, as the “Great Recession” took hold, many consumer product marketers and retailers acted as if the walls were closing in on them, in many cases resorting to rampant price-slashing. But not fresh convenience food marketers and retailers, who instead saw an opening. Wisely gauging their main competition as coming from the restaurant industry instead of less costly unprepared food, they continued the innovations in quality and convenience that had been underway in the market for several years, and simultaneously began aggressively competing on price with the foodservice industry in an effort to woo customers away.

According to Packaged Facts, these efforts proved successful, spurring a shift by many consumers from restaurant meals to prepared food purchased at retail outlets. As a result, the market for fresh convenience foods grew by 5.1% in 2009 to reach sales of $22.3 billion. Packaged Facts expects these marketing and merchandising efforts to continue to prove successful over the short term, driving sales of fresh convenience foods up another 28% by 2014 to $28.5 billion.

Fully updated from the December 2007 edition, Fresh Convenience Foods in the U.S. offers a comprehensive look at this complex market. It examines the both myriad types of fresh convenience foods and the myriad retail channels through which they are obtained—from traditional outlets such supermarkets and supercenters/mass merchandisers to such increasingly dynamic segments as convenience stores, delis and local food outlets, drugstores, the Internet, and even food carts.

This full updated report details the complex changes that have taken place in the market since the previous edition, with new attention to competition by retail sector. Using Symphony/IRI mass-market sales tracking data, it offers detailed accounts of sales and marketer/brand activity across 17 refrigerated product segments, from lunch kits and dinners/entrees to fresh soup and side dishes, while diving into selected segments using SPINSscan data for natural supermarket channel. The report projects sales, market growth drivers, and competitive opportunities, including an extensive account of the battle with the foodservice industry for consumer dollars that details the staggering—and still growing—assortment of menu and marketing trends shaping the industry.

A special feature of this report is custom survey data by Packaged Facts specifically addressing consumer purchasing of fresh prepared foods, including vis-a-vis the down economy. Additional demographic analysis derives from data compiled by Experian Simmons, New York, NY, including demographic indexing of consumers most or least likely to often eat store-made, pre-cooked meals.