SF-October-2020

2021. It anticipates that a return to the workplace will encourage consumers to seek more convenient ways to eat well. They also predict eating out habits will be slow to recover, creating ongoing opportunities for sales of meals that meet the new driving criteria: health. “The Covid-19 pandemic has put a spotlight on health and the effect of lifestyle choices on this, with 31% of adults putting a greater emphasis on healthy eating since the outbreak,” states Mintel’s report on ready meals and ready- to-cook, published in July. “The importance of immune health has particularly come to the fore. The topic of healthy eating was already firmly on consumers’ radars prior to Covid-19, with 62% of UK adults trying to eat healthily all or most of the time. While there is a place for meals that appeal more as a nice treat when people don’t want to cook, there is also a compelling need to develop better-for-you products. Many users think that ready meals are too unhealthy to eat too often, but promisingly, a large group of consumers are already open to healthier meals.” Analysts at Mintel agree. “During the Covid-19 pandemic demand for ready meals has been hit by people doing more cooking from scratch,” starts senior food and drink analyst Richard Caines. “Offering quick meals is still important though, and NPD should focus on both better-for-you options that tap interest in healthy eating, as well as meals that are attractive as a nice treat and an alternative to a takeaway or meal out, in light of consumer interest. Replicating specialityfoodmagazine.com 23 restaurant and takeaway meals more closely will help products appeal as wariness around busy public places lingers and household incomes are stretched.” Mintel’s analysis highlights the trend for economising habits to develop slowly during a recession, which teamed with a mid-term order for office workers to work from home could indicate a permanent gain in retail spend. In fact, despite the bad reputation most supermarket convenience meals have for their high fat and salt content, analysis released by market watchers Mintel this July suggests 53% of consumers still consider a ready meal ‘a nice treat’. So how do you make sure our meals are offering something that little bit extra special? “Provenance will always be a draw,” says Edward, “and this is often an area that branded ready meals have little to offer.” He’s not wrong: for large producers working at scales the challenges of committing to an ingredient from a particular region is just too economically risky, whatever the benefits. Yet in 2020 we trust food according to its provenance. Consumers want to understand where king prawns were farmed, feel inspired by the regional heritage of a recipe, or simply be taken on a journey from their own home. Go your own way Delivering convenience meals and soups that meet the values and signature approach of your business may take a pragmatic approach. “We don’t sell anything frozen,” says Sue Billington, co- owner of Billington’s of Lenzie to the north east of Glasgow. “We used to but it didn’t work for us. We do sell fresh food which customers take home and reheat, though. We do a pasta dish every day, which can be a bolognese, a penne pomodoro with chorizo or lasagne, and they sell well. We make homemade quiches which are on everyday. We sell ambient products like pasta sauces alongside pasta and asian sauces next to the noodles, and the Punjaban curry sauces are popular. Online we sell a couple of meal kits which include everything you need to make a spaghetti bolognese, from mince and spaghetti and all the ingredients for a sauce to a bottle of wine to serve with it, as well as a chicken curry option. The concept came to us during lockdown as we thought people would appreciate the convenience, and it works for us as the kits consist of products which we’d always have on the shelves so we don’t need to order anything in specially.” Recent measures announced by the Government will ensure that normal work/life patterns remain disrupted for the six month period ahead, but analysts at Mintel are optimistic about how the convenience meal segment will perform as we move into Consumers want readymeals that deliver to a higher level: carefully selected ingredients, better recipes, andmeals targeted to special occasions rather than simply convenience and speed