Ready meals, or ready to eat food products are quick and easy to prepare, making them particularly suitable for consumers with a busy lifestyle. The global ready meals market is estimated to be worth over 163 billion euros in revenues, with North America accounting for the largest market share with revenues of nearly 60 billion euros, according to a research on Statista.com.
THE READY MEALS MARKET
The European market for ready meals is estimated to be worth 37.78 billion euros and is expected to grow annually by 3.1% over the next three years to reach 41.3 billion euros in 2021. In volume terms, the ready meal market is forecast to grow 1.1% in 2019, 1% in 2020 and 0.9% in 2021. These percentages represent a slower growth compared with 3.2% in 2013 and 3.1% in 2016. The average price per unit amounts to 6.27 euros this year and is expected to continue to grow over the next three years and reach 6.66 euros in 2021.
ITALIAN FOOD PRODUCERS
Italian food manufacturers bet on the quality of their natural ingredients and their renowned traditional recipes to lure a bigger share of consumers with practical products. With many consumers looking for alternatives to meat and dairy, vegetables take center stage also in ready meals, from frozen vegetable burgers to soups with chickpeas and beans, spinach, quinoa, and kale. And when it comes to vegetables, choosing organic production is a must. Some ready meals belong to the frozen category. So, producers have created a variety of soups and even pasta products that only need to be heated in an oven or on the stove to be served for a tasty and nutritious dinner.
GIFT BOXES: A LAUNCH PAD FOR NEW FOOD IDEAS
Baskets of artisanal foods and premium drinks represent an important opportunity for physical stores and online distributors addressing growing consumer demand for new specialties. Gift boxes are a promising category for retailers, who promote their curated collections of salami, pasta, vinegar, wines, cheeses and other premium products. In some instances, consumers can pick and mix the products they order online or in store, enjoying the personal experience of gift shopping, especially when shopping is tailored to the needs of single customers.
THE BOOST OF HOLIDAY SEASONS
The holiday seasons are the busiest periods of the year for this ready meals category, which appears especially suited for travelers. In addition to supermarkets and online stores, travel retail is perhaps the most important channel for gift boxes as customers going back home want to bring with them the true flavors of the places they visited. According to a report published by Allied Market Research, the global travel retail market size is projected to reach 125.1 billion dollars by 2023, growing at a CAGR of 8.9% from 2017 to 2023. Wines & spirits are the second largest revenue contributors to the travel retail market. Known as a luxury destination for its iconic brands, Europe accounts for nearly 21 billion dollars of the travel retail sector.