There are times when consumer insights inform sensory attributes around product development —aspects of taste, texture, color and smell. In other instances, research findings provide a deeper look at shopper preferences, behaviors and ultimately, purchase patterns.

Last year saw The NPD Group, Chicago, share two consumer insight studies with implications for prepared meals and entrees. In its June “Future of Dinner” report, NPD said at-home dinner consumption still remains higher than pre-pandemic levels. Authors added, “Little or no prep and fast dinner fixes, like frozen meals and ready-to-eat snacks, especially during the work week, will grow through 2024. Consumers will also increasingly turn to retail on-the-go meals to help with meal prep, like ready-to-eat chicken from the grocery store. Retail ready-to-eat foods are forecast to grow by double-digits through 2024.”

In its annual fall “Eating Patterns in America” report, NPD identified six macro themes impacting food and beverage consumption: economic transition, inflation, income bifurcation, sticky behaviors, total wellness, and the return to convenience.

“The rate of change in US consumers’ eating behaviors continues at a dizzying pace,” noted David Portalatin, NPD food industry advisor and author of Eating Patterns in America. “Anyone hoping to return to normal must understand that there is no normal, only an ongoing evolution as we respond to new realities.”

Three of these themes bode well for prepared meals and entrées. Although inflation is more moderate for food away from home than food at home, the typical restaurant meal costs 3.4 times more than in-home food sourced from retail, said NPD. To offset rising food costs, consumers are bargain-hunting when grocery shopping, eating more meals at home, and cutting back on restaurant visits. NPD Group added that food and beverage “sticky behaviors” may continue to normalize but the consumer landscape has been transformed as consumers created new capacities and restaurant operators expanded capabilities to serve a more home-centric consumer.

Finally, while home-centricity remains more prevalent, the return of mobility reintroduced the need for speed and convenience. For some occasions, this means a trip to a quick service restaurant, but for others, “we want to retain our new at-home capacity, just with some shortcuts or time-saving techniques,” said Portalatin.

Meals in Minutes

Frozen meal and entrée makers are busy to capture at-home eating opportunities. New offerings appeal on many levels—including speed, ethnic flavor, plant-based health and even sustainability.

Category giant Conagra Brands, Chicago, extended its Marie Callender’s line with new Duos, a series of single-serve meals that pair Chicken Alfredo & Chicken Parmigiana, Meatloaf & Country Fried Chicken, Creamy Pesto Chicken & Four Cheese Ravioli. Conagra likewise bolstered Birds Eye Voila! with three easy Oven Bake Meals that eliminate prep.

Perhaps most interesting was news that Conagra’s Evol brand launched eight Carbonfree® Certified Carbon Neutral single-serve frozen meals. They’re produced in a TRUE certified Zero Waste facility and include three vegetarian meals, such as Butternut Squash & Sage Ravioli. Officials say Carbonfund.org Foundation Certified Carbonfree® products have "net zero" CO2 emissions. It means brands like Evol measure the carbon footprint of the products over their full lifecycle, cradle-to-grave—from ingredient sourcing and packaging, to product manufacturing, distribution, and consumer use and end of life, and invest in projects that remove an equal amount of carbon from the atmosphere.

Bowl-based formats have ongoing appeal. Conagra added new single-serve bowl entrees to four other brands including P.F. Chang's Home Menu, Healthy Choice Zero, Frontera and Banquet. Plant-based specialist Sweet Earth Foods (Nestlé USA) also added two ethnic-inspired bowl options: Korean BBQ-Style Chik'n and Cacio e Pepe. Elsewhere, Low-carb and keto friendly specialist Cali'flour Foods, Chico, Calif., boosted its frozen line with two comfort classic bowls: Beef & Broccoli and Cheesy Chicken & Rice.

Also taking a cauliflower, veggie-forward approach is Vegolutionary Foods, Los Angeles, which extended its gluten-free CAULIPOWER brand with three frozen meals its describes as “one-pan wonders.” The offerings are produced in Italy with veggie-based pasta, authentic Italian sauces and veggies. Varieties include Cauliflower Gnocchi with Savory Pesto, Spinach Gnocchi with Tuscan-Style Marinara, and Cauliflower Penne Pomodoro.

How about more authentic ethnic adventure? New Asian offerings seemingly dominate the landscape. Television celebrity chef and Chinese cuisine icon Chef Martin Yan partnered with business strategist Richard Gray, Gray Growth Strategies, to form WokAsia, New York, N.Y. The start-up will create frozen fried rice entrées under the Yan Kitchen line.  China’s Youkuai Group International, Shanhai, brought its plant-based Zrou brand to the US’ Plant-based World Expo last September. Pulmuone USA, Fullerton, Calif., said its Nasoya tofu brand exhibited at October’s Global Produce & Floral Show and showcased its Plantspired ready-to-eat plant-based meal solutions. The line includes Plantspired Toss’ables pre-cut and baked tofu bites marinated with Korean Sweet Chili sauce. The new item will be available at retailers nationwide in 2023. Attendees also sampled Nasoya’s Korean BBQ Plantspired Steak product.

Another plant-forward processor, Wicked Kitchen, Minneapolis, added four heat-and-eat frozen meals. Inspired by global flavors, the chef-crafted collection includes Naked Burrito with Beyond Meat, Korean Inspired Bowl with Beyond Meat, Peng Panang Tofu Curry, and Seriously Sriracha Tofu & Rice. Packed six to a case, each 14oz meal carries a $5.99 SRP.

How about another chef’s touch? West African meal and hot sauce brand AYO Foods, Chicago, partnered with Chef Zoe Adjonyoh (Zoe's Ghana Kitchen) for two frozen stew entrees that debuted at Sprouts Farmers Market stores nationwide. Varieties are Aboboi (featuring bambara beans, red peppers and chiles; and Groundnut Stew, also known as West African peanut soup.

More processors are showcasing legumes—including both beans and lentils—as the stars of new entrées. Last October saw The Good Bean, Berkeley, Calif., introduce shelf-stable Heat & Eat Meals in four varieties: Indian Coconut Curry, Low-Carb Classic Chili, Santa Fe Green Chili and Mexican Smoky Chipotle. The 10oz portions come in heat-and-eat pouches and are ready within 90 seconds. In November, Lentiful LLC, Broomfield, Colo., introduced four of its own namesake meals in 2oz, 57g microwaveable cups. Consumers simply add water, stir and heat. Varieties include Mexican Green Chile, Thai Coconut, French Mirepoix, and one sweet/breakfast flavor, Cinnamon Apple.

Rise & Dine

Those targeting the breakfast occasion include such big names such as Tyson Foods and Kellogg—as well as a host of competitors. Tyson extended its Jimmy Dean line with two varieties of Jimmy Dean Egg Bites with 17g of protein per serving. Consumers looking for meat-free options could try Kellogg’s MorningStar Farms’ Incogmeato Plant-Based Chik’n and Eggo Liege Style Waffle Sandwich. It features Eggo’s first vegan waffles alongside a savory, plant-based chik’n patty from MorningStar Farms. It delivers 21g of protein per serving and a 9.3oz box has two sandwiches for a SRP of $8.49. Another grab-and-go option is MorningStar Farms’ Incogmeato Pancake and Sausage on a Stick.

How about pizza for breakfast? Last spring saw Nestlé introduce DiGiorno Breakfast Croissant Pizzas in three varieties: Cinnamon Roll, Eggs Benedict Inspired, and Sausage & Gravy. Palermo Villa Inc., Milwaukee, also extended its Screamin’ Sicilian Pizza Co. brand with two individual-serving breakfast varieties: Breakfast Club (cheese sauce, bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs and whole milk mozzarella) and Country Breakfast (sausage gravy, sausage pieces and whole milk mozzarella).  

Smaller competitors include easterners The Real Good Foods Company, Inc., Cherry Hill, N.J.; and MingsBings Inc., Boston; as well as West Coast processors Valley Fine Foods LLC, Benicia, Calif., and Alpha Foods, Glendale, Calif. With a focus on high protein and low carbs, Real Good Foods extended its breakfast line with two Breakfast Bowls and two Breakfast Bites. MingsBings introduced four hand-held, plant-based pocket sandwiches featuring JUST Egg substitute and Violife dairy-free cheddar among ingredients. Valley Fine Foods partnered with Impossible Foods for co-branded Three Bridges brand Cheese & Impossible^TM (beef) Egg Bites. Plant-based processor Alpha Foods extended its breakfast line with a Chik’n & Maple Waffle Breakfast Sandwich.

Having already worked with tofu and dedicated meat alternatives, Hodo Inc., Oakland, Calif., expanded into breakfast with a soybean-based, vegan All-Day Egg Scramble. Hodo says the 8oz, fully cooked refrigerated entrée “has as much protein as a chicken egg, zero cholesterol, 30% more protein than the largest egg-alt player in the market, and is also high in fiber, calcium, and iron.”

Pasta’s Progress

Consumers’ pasta options continue to evolve throughout the supermarket—with more appealing new refrigerated and frozen fully prepared options and a new generation of flour- and/or veggie-based dry varieties.

Processors with new prepared items included Buitoni Food Company, Stamford, Conn.; NUOVO Pasta Productions, Ltd., Stratford, Conn.; United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI), Providence; and Panera Bread, St. Louis. In the latter case, the well-known restaurant chain expanded its refrigerated grocery line with three 12oz single-serve pasta bowls. Buitoni closed last year with two new refrigerated ravioli varieties that borrow on Americans’ favorite flavors: Pepperoni & Cheese, and Chicken Parmesan. Taking another approach was Nuovo, which introduced an eight-item “Tour of Italy” line with six authentic ravioli items and two types of sacchetti. Separately, Nuovo also launched a four-item Plant-Based Vegan collection. Similarly, UNFI introduced six, 20oz Plant Powered Organic Frozen Pastas (vegan and vegetarian) under the Woodstock brand. Conagra Brands also was active in the freezercase and extended its Bertolli line with four Bertolli Pasta Sides. The 13oz offerings can serve as a meal starter, side dish or entrée the company says.

More processors pushed forward in the dry pasta realm. GrownAs* Foods, Boulder, Colo., debuted last December with vegan, GrownAs* boxed Mac and Cheese in Classic and Truffle flavors. Soley Inc., La Jolla, Calif., debuted its Organic Green Banana Fusilli Pasta (made from just one ingredient) at Whole Foods. MXO Global Inc., Chicago, (Tolerant) also extended its certified organic, single-ingredient pasta line with a new Tolerant Organic Chickpea Spaghetti. Last fall also saw dressings processor Litehouse Inc., Sandpoint, Idaho, grow its Veggiecraft Farms pasta line with Cauliflower Rotini, a veggie-based, gluten free offering made from just lentils, peas and cauliflower. Cauliflower Rotini contains 24g of protein and 8g of fiber per serving, the company says.

No Forks Needed

Pizza remains as popular as ever and processors continue innovating with crusts, toppings and even fillings. Category leader Nestlé USA extended its DiGiorno brand with two Fully Stuffed varieties: Double Pepperoni and Ultimate Three Meat (with cheese filling throughout). The brand also added two additional personal 8.2oz Hand-Tossed chicken items: Chicken Alfredo and BBQ Recipe Chicken. In other news, Italian sauce maker Rao’s Homemade launched four Italian Brick Oven Pizzas. Conagra Brands added three single-serve, cauliflower crust Flatbread Pizzas to its Healthy Choice brand. Newman’s Own Inc., Westport, Conn., added three Stone-Fired Crust Pizzas (13.1oz to 13.8oz) it says are imported from Italy. Varieties are Margherita, Quatrro Formaggi and Spinaci & Formaggi.

How about more hand-held experiences? Nestlé USA extended its frozen Hot Pockets brand with four new Deliwich sandwich offerings. Del Monte Foods, Walnut Creek, Calif., extended its frozen hand-held entrée line with three vegetarian Veggieful Pizza Pocket Pies. They feature cauliflower crust and three meatless pizza fillings: Plant-Based Pepperoni, Plant-Based Sausage & Mushroom, and Four-Cheese. Speaking of meatless, Daiya Foods Inc., Vancouver, B.C., launched three plant-based, allergen friendly flatbreads with gluten-free crusts. Varieties are Mushroom, Caramelized Onion & Fig, Meatless; Italian Sausage Style Crumbles, Roasted Pepper & Kale; and a Tomato, Sunflower Seed Pesto & Arugula.