Ready meal market to target families and kids

Retail sales of prepared foods in Europe showed an increase of 5.2 per cent between 1996 and 2001, according to a recent study by market analysts Datamonitor. Once aimed at "singles" food manufacturers are now turning to families and children. According to Datamonitor prepared meals have become standard fare as consumers across Europe look to reduce the amount of time they spend on routine tasks such as cooking. Britain comes second only to Sweden when it comes to spend per head on prepared meals. But the UK has the biggest overall market for prepared meals, with Britons spending a total of $3.25 billion (3.63 billion euros) in 2001. Datamonitor's research found that the prepared meal markets in Italy and Spain had the highest growth rates in Europe between 1996-2001, with average annual growth rates in excess of 11 per cent in both countries. The survey states that while the markets are still small, they present manufactures with great potential for expansion as they are forecast to continue growing strongly. The breakdown of traditional family units has provided manufacturers with the perfect market in which to promote individual meals. In the UK alone, one-third of all households are expected to be single-person households in 10 years time. The report did stress however that manufacturers may have been concentrating too hard on the singleton market, and should now be targeting the family. Families are also facing time pressures, with often both parents working. Of all the prepared meals new-product launches tracked by Datamonitor between 1999-2001, only 9 per cent claimed to offer servings for four or more people. Currently, larger portion sizes are more common in frozen prepared meals. For example, family-sized meals remain the domain of frozen ready meals in France, whilst chilled ready meals are catering for the individual segment. However, as consumers trade up to higher value goods there may be potential to offer family-sized meal portions in the chilled category. UK retailer Sainsbury's offers 'take-away' style chilled ready meals for a family of four. The report states that there is scope for manufacturers to increase the added value of their children-specific prepared meals by enriching their products with essential vitamins and minerals, whilst minimising the level of artificial additives. Parents, the report claims, are naturally concerned about the health of their children and many are prepared to pay a price premium to ensure their children receive better nutrition. Datamonitor's research suggests that manufacturers are currently missing out on the potential of the childrens' market - only 2 per cent of products tracked by Datamonitor between 1999-2001 were explicitly targeted at children. Growth in the prepared meal market has been very strong but this will decelerate over the next five years as markets begin to mature, the report entitled "Rethinking Prepared Meals", concludes. The pattern of growth rates will lead to the emergence of a three tiered market structure, with Italy being the fastest growth country. Spain and Sweden will be in a middle growth group and there will be low growth in France, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK. Manufacturers in these markets will be seeking to consolidate brand portfolios and protect market share.