Prepared meals and entrees must step up to the plate with more natural ingredients and better-for-you appeal
There’s no way around it. Frozen prepared meals and entrées need to get healthy and generate more sales. And, perhaps the topic of health is just the right place to start.
Total retail sales of prepared meals and side dishes reached $9.9 billion in 2013, at current prices. The category declined 4% from 2008-13 as consumers prefer products with natural ingredients, and better-for-you claims. Within the category, refrigerated meals and side dishes improved their respective sales from 2008-13; however, their sales were not enough to offset sharp declines within the much larger frozen single-serve and multi-serve meal segments.