Global Ready Meals Market – Industry Trends and Forecast to 2029

Ready Meals Market Analysis and Size

In recent years, ready-to-eat food has emerged as one of the most versatile segments of the global ready meals market. A rise in convenience trends and a parallel rise in demand for specific meal solutions have resulted in strong demand for frozen ready meals. The food and beverage industry is viewed as a one-stop shop for customers on the go, offering everything from frozen sweets to appetizers and meals.

Data Bridge Market Research analyses that the ready meals market was growing at a value of USD 163.1 billion in 2021 and is expected to reach a value of USD 250.31 billion and registering a CAGR of 5.50% from 2022 to 2029. In addition to the insights on market scenarios such as market value, growth rate, segmentation, geographical coverage, and major players, the market reports curated by the Data Bridge Market Research also include in-depth expert analysis, geographically represented company-wise production and capacity, network layouts of distributors and partners, detailed and updated price trend analysis and deficit analysis of supply chain and demand.

Ready Meals Market Scope and Segmentation

Market Definition

Ready meals or frozen food are meals that have been frozen to extend their shelf life and keep them from becoming contaminated or spoilt. Ready meals have quickly gained popularity among various segments of society, particularly among the younger and college-going population, due to their ease of preparation and low time consumption.

Ready Meals Market Dynamics

Drivers

• Consumers' busy lifestyle is augmenting the ready meals market

The growing consumer preference for convenience foods indirectly benefits the growing demand for frozen ready meal because they take less time and effort to prepare than cooking from scratch. Due to the consumers' hectic lifestyles, the processed food market is driven by a greater need for convenience. As a result, the demand for frozen goods rises. Increasing disposable income is another factor that significantly impacts the growth of the food market because it increases consumer purchasing power.

• Expansions of convenience stores as well as growing working class population

Ready meals are becoming increasingly popular in developed countries, where consumption is higher than in developing countries. The increase in the number of people working in emerging economies such as China and India, as well as the trend toward extended and more variable working hours, has resulted in a progressive shift away from the traditional paradigm of daily cooking.

Opportunities

One of the most recent market trends is online grocery shopping and the introduction of new apps that make it easier for consumers to select their preferred products. Customers prefer online shopping because of its convenience and variety. According to Eurostat, nearly 25% of the population purchased food and groceries from online retail channels. Retail-ready meal shopping is emerging as one of the platforms for companies to showcase and sell their food products as the internet and smartphone penetration grow.

Restraints

On the other hand, the presence of fats in ready meals, as well as negative mindsets and opinions about frozen food's impact on health, are two factors that are expected to slow the growth of the ready meals market in the near future.

This ready meals market report provides details of new recent developments, trade regulations, import-export analysis, production analysis, value chain optimization, market share, impact of domestic and localized market players, analyses opportunities in terms of emerging revenue pockets, changes in market regulations, strategic market growth analysis, market size, category market growths, application niches and dominance, product approvals, product launches, geographic expansions, technological innovations in the market. To gain more info on the frozen Ready Meals market contact Data Bridge Market Research for an Analyst Brief, our team will help you take an informed market decision to achieve market growth.

Impact and Current Market Scenario of Raw Material Shortage and Shipping Delays

Data Bridge Market Research offers a high-level analysis of the market and delivers information by keeping in account the impact and current market environment of raw material shortage and shipping delays. This translates into assessing strategic possibilities, creating effective action plans, and assisting businesses in making important decisions.

Apart from the standard report, we also offer in-depth analysis of the procurement level from forecasted shipping delays, distributor mapping by region, commodity analysis, production analysis, price mapping trends, sourcing, category performance analysis, supply chain risk management solutions, advanced benchmarking, and other services for procurement and strategic support.

COVID-19 Impact on Ready Meals Market

The COVID-19 outbreak has boosted demand for convenience items. During the pandemic, consumers were constantly buying ready-to-eat or ready-to-cook meals because they were readily available at low prices. Severe lockdown measures have been implemented by all restaurants, hotels, and shopping malls, which has impacted eating habits globally due to lockdown and public safety measures. This factor has also influenced many people to switch to home-cooked meals and packaged ready foods that can be delivered to their homes via several supermarkets or hypermarkets and e-commerce grocery store home delivery options, as dining-out options were limited. Fear of spreading the virus in public places has led to the purchase of packaged and long-life ready meals rather than fresh food.

Expected Impact of Economic Slowdown on the Pricing and Availability of Products

When economic activity slows, industries begin to suffer. The forecasted effects of the economic downturn on the pricing and accessibility of the products are taken into account in the market insight reports and intelligence services provided by DBMR. With this, our clients can typically keep one step ahead of their competitors, project their sales and revenue, and estimate their profit and loss expenditures.

Recent Development

• In 2021, Nomad Foods announced an agreement with Fortenova Grupa d. d. to acquire Fortenova's Frozen Food Business Group (FFBG) for USD 724 million in order to expand its product portfolio, as FFBG offers a wide range of frozen meals and has a large distribution channel in Eastern Europe
• Conagra Brands Inc. launched its extensive summer line products in 2021 to provide manufacturers with single-serve frozen meals and collect brands with new Banquet®, Marie Callender's ®, Wholesome Alternative®, and Hungry Man® dishes. Conagra's mission is to please customers by providing nutritious frozen foods
• In 2020, the Dutch start-up Lazy Vegan released its latest frozen ready meal, "Thai Green Curry," which is gluten-free and soy-free. It also launched vegan frozen meals with plant-based chicken and Ready Meals to establish a strong presence in the European market

Global Ready Meals Market Scope

The ready meals market is segmented on the basis of type, meal type, distribution channel and product. The growth amongst these segments will help you analyze meagre growth segments in the industries and provide the users with a valuable market overview and market insights to help them make strategic decisions for identifying core market applications.

Product

• Frozen and chilled
• Canned
• Dried

Meal Type

• Vegetarian
• Non-vegetarian
• Vegan

Distribution channel

• Supermarket & Hypermarket
• Online Retail

Type

• Chilled Pizza
• Canned/Preserved Ready Meals
• Chilled Ready Meals
• Dried Ready Meals
• Frozen Pizza
• Frozen Ready Meals
• Prepared Salads

Ready Meals Market Regional Analysis/Insights

The ready meals market is analysed and market size insights and trends are provided by country, type, meal type, distribution channel and product as referenced above.

The countries covered in the ready meals market report are U.S., Canada and Mexico in North America, Germany, Sweden, Poland, Denmark, France, U.K., Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Russia, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Rest of Europe in Europe, China, Japan, India, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Rest of Asia-Pacific (APAC) in the Asia-Pacific (APAC), Saudi Arabia, U.A.E, South Africa, Egypt, Israel, Rest of Middle East and Africa (MEA) as a part of Middle East and Africa (MEA), Brazil, Argentina and Rest of South America as part of South America.

Europe dominates the ready meals market due to an increase in demand for frozen ready meals caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has affected several countries. Furthermore, the region's population growth, rapid urbanization, and increased customer awareness of the benefits of frozen food will drive the growth of the ready meals market during the forecast period.

Asia-Pacific is expected to see significant growth in the ready meals market because of the trend of ready-to-eat food among the working-class population. Furthermore, the substantial increase in demand for frozen food due to the decrease in time for preparing and cooking is expected to further propel the market growth in the region.

The country section of the report also provides individual market impacting factors and changes in market regulation that impact the current and future trends of the market. Data points like down-stream and upstream value chain analysis, technical trends and porter's five forces analysis, case studies are some of the pointers used to forecast the market scenario for individual countries. Also, the presence and availability of global brands and their challenges faced due to large or scarce competition from local and domestic brands, impact of domestic tariffs and trade routes are considered while providing forecast analysis of the country data.   

Competitive Landscape and Ready Meals Market Share Analysis

The frozen ready meals market competitive landscape provides details by competitor. Details included are company overview, company financials, revenue generated, market potential, investment in research and development, new market initiatives, global presence, production sites and facilities, production capacities, company strengths and weaknesses, product launch, product width and breadth, application dominance. The above data points provided are only related to the companies' focus related to frozen Ready Meals market.

Some of the major players operating in the ready meals market are:

• The Hain Celestial Company (US)
• AGRARFROST GMBH & CO. KG (Germany)Agristo (Belgium)
• Bart's Potato Company bvba (Belgium)
• Royal Cosun (Netherlands)
• Farm Frites (Netherlands)
• Greenyard (Belgium)
• Himalaya Food International Ltd. (India)
• J.R. Simplot Company (US)
• McCain Foods Ltd. (UK)
• Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (UK)
• General Mills, Inc. (US)
• Mondelez International, Inc. (US)
• THE KRAFT HEINZ COMPANY (US)  

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