The convenient truth about ready meals

Convenient fresh food options are powering the booming growth in the ready meals market.

Do you feel like there are never enough hours in the day? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. According to a recent OECD Better Life Index, Australia rates in the bottom 20% when it comes to work–life balance. We are officially spending more time than ever at our desks, in our cars or on public transport. As we struggle to make time for the things we cherish, it’s unsurprising the traditional approach of planning and eating three square meals a day is quickly changing.

Our time-poor lifestyles have led to people spending less time cooking. Instead, we are becoming increasingly focused on the pursuit of convenience that tastes great. To put it in celebrity chef terms — we’re becoming less ‘Ready, Steady, Cook’ and more ‘Ready, Steady, Reheat’.

Industry analysis by IBIS World backs this premise by showing the world’s prepared meals production market has grown steadily over the past five years at an annual rate of about 3.6%.

Over the years, foods considered convenient and competitively priced have become widely embraced. Today we’re seeing a growing uptake and increasing popularity for fresh, high-end ready meals, especially low in fat. One of the biggest trends, however, revolves around convenient fresh food options. It seems freshness is now a widespread customer expectation and a rallying cry that signifies greater quality, flavour and healthiness.

Research shows how meaningful and pervasive the trend is. When Technomic recently asked American consumers to choose from a list of descriptors they looked for when purchasing food or beverages, a large majority — 80% in retail — chose “fresh” to a far greater extent than they did terms such as “housemade”, “scratch”, “seasonal” or “artisan”.

To take advantage of this trend, producers must embrace packaging technology that gives them the edge in the fresh and convenient space.

A prime example of this is the great Australian avocado. It’s notorious for its short shelf life and low yield when used from scratch in sandwiches, salads and guacamole.

Packaging innovations, such as flexible pouches made with barrier and oxygen-scavenging films, are helping to overcome this short-shelf-life conundrum.

This type of packaging contains active packaging material that removes oxygen from products and can protect avocados and other delicate food products — such as proteins, fresh pasta, tomatoes and fruit purees — from discolouring while also extending shelf life. This combination also leads to less food waste, which can only be a positive.

The result is a batch of guacamole made from fresh avocado pulp and packaged in a pouch that significantly extends product flavour and colour, such as Cryovac Freshness Plus. This packaging process also saves a lot of labour in the process. Greater yield, less spoilage and lower labour costs add up to higher profits.

Similarly, being able to capture fresh spring asparagus or summer berries in active barrier film pouches that protect them from oxygen and extend their shelf life can make the difference between a profitable limited time offering (LTO) and a disappointing one. As a result, operators can integrate these products into their product range or menu without elevating back-of-house costs.

Another trend emerging from our love of convenience is the way we’re buying our food. While it would be premature to say the traditional shopping list is dead, it does seem many shoppers plan meals just hours in advance.

The 2014 Power of Meat Report found 27% of American consumers are undecided at least half the time whether they will cook or eat out as close to two hours before dinnertime. The report is an annual consumer survey commissioned by the American Meat Institute (AMI) and the Food Marketing Institute (FMI), with sponsorship from Sealed Air’s Cryovac food packaging brand.

The Power of Meat Report found in 2015 that 38% of customers are putting “a lot” of effort into choosing healthy and nutritious meals. This trend of healthy choices is further supported by the growing interest towards organic meat: 39% of shoppers have bought natural and organic meat/poultry in the past three months.

These changes to consumers’ eating preferences are prominent in Australia as well. They, along with the changing demographics associated with the ageing baby boomer population and the move towards smaller and dual-income households, lend themselves to a consumer base that demands everything simplified: from purchasing to storage, preparation, serving and clean-up for the foods they choose.

Packaging that minimises steps for consumers, such as grab-and-go packaged produce or fresh meat products that can go straight from the retailer’s chiller case to the oven or microwave, are becoming very popular.

Easy-open packages that consumers can access without using a knife or scissors are also gaining momentum, as is reclosable packaging.

Another convenient solution of note is one that enables a product to be marinated inside the package, which streamlines the process of marinating meat or poultry. This technology packages protein and marinade together, separated by a seal, which is broken when the consumer squeezes the package. The protein can then marinate without ever leaving the package, which maintains product safety and freshness and also eliminates mess.

All of this underscores the fact that convenience is a powerful and growing force in the marketplace. Operators leveraging packaging innovations to provide convenient, yet fresh and healthy, meals are grasping an opportunity that will pay dividends in customer satisfaction and bottom-line success.

Consumers want fast, fresh and healthy. And they want it now. Undoubtedly this poses both an opportunity and a threat to food manufacturers and processors. But by listening to what consumers want, these businesses can do more than provide their customers with a tasty meal — they can also satisfy their growing hunger for freshness and convenience.

Paul McGuire, Market Manager — Ready Meals & Darfresh, ANZ, Sealed Air