Meals and Soups

Unilever is the second largest cooking ingredients and meals company in the world. The company has benefited from more cooking at home since the pandemic which has benefited brands such as Knorr and Hellmann’s. With a strong presence in emerging…

Nestlé remained a leader in cooking ingredients and meals in 2022 but lost the top spot to Kraft Heinz. Despite increased consumption boosting sales worldwide, Nestlé saw a decline in its market shares. Ready meals and frozen pizza saw prominent…

After the growth spike seen in 2020, when consumers were looking for easy meal solutions during the long periods they were spending at home due to the COVID-19 restrictions, meals and soups has continued to see positive, if slower, growth in the last…

Ready meals is seeing healthy retail sales in both volume and value terms. Overall, sales are being driven by consumers’ demand for convenience, as people have returned to their busy lifestyles – especially so in the large cities – whereby they have…

In 2023, the meals and soups category showed sales growth in volume and value terms, spurred by the return to normal lifestyles post-pandemic and the return of employees to the workplace. The general increase in the number of working women in…

Dry soup remains the largest category in sauces, dips and condiments, in current value terms. The reduction of imports, largely from Argentina, is hindering retail volume sales in 2023. Category leader Unilever del Uruguay SA leads sales of dry soup…

Meals and soups recorded a relatively robust sales performance during 2023 as retail volume sales increased across all categories. This can be partly seen as the natural response to the dramatic decline seen in demand for meals and soups in the…

Ready meals recorded an excellent sales performance in 2023 as demand continued to increase substantially. While all categories of ready meals registered strong positive retail volume sales growth, shelf stable ready meals and chilled ready meals…

All soup brands in Tunisia are imported, with Calfort, Ideal and Knorr dominating sales. These brands invest significantly in advertising campaigns, particularly on Middle Eastern television channels, which are widely viewed by Tunisian consumers.…

With the exception of the e-commerce-dominated meal kits category, in 2022 private label saw share growth across most categories in meals and soups, as consumers weathered inflated food costs. While unit price rises for ready meals look to be cooling…

In 2023 meals and soups is still being impacted by inflation, affecting both volume consumption and value growth. In the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, the volume rise of ready meals may seem surprising, but as budgets tighten, these convenient…

The local workforce has returned, with employees actively seeking convenience as they rebalance their professional and personal lives. Therefore, retail demand for ready meals and prepared salads continues to steadily rise in the United Arab Emirates…

The performance of meals and soups is being supported by consumers’ return to busy lifestyles, thus leading to a higher demand for convenience. Indeed, at the end of a busy workday, people seek easy, quick, and convenient ways to prepare their meals…

Soup is poised for healthy growth in 2023, defying traditional associations with cold weather consumption. Dutch consumers of all age groups continue to embrace soup as a favourite meal option. Valued for its nutritional benefits and perceived as a…

As a result of inflation, many low- to middle-income Czech consumers have been discouraged from dining at foodservice establishments, leading to a concomitant increase in home cooking. This benefits chilled ready meals and soups, which offer busy…

Meals and soups benefit from consumers’ return to busy out-of-home lifestyles in the post-pandemic landscape – particularly so in the large cities. Such options provide convenience to consumers who are seeking quick and easy meals. Added to which,…

The resurgence of travel and dining out in 2023, following the post-COVID-19 era, has redirected consumption from off-trade to on-trade channels in Taiwan. With increased time spent on travel and dining at restaurants, there has been a noticeable…

In 2023, meals and soups maintained its robust performance. This can be attributed to the establishment of hybrid work formats, such as the prevalence of working from home for two days a week, resulting in increased home-cooked meals. Convenience and…

Significant numbers of Swedish consumers continue to reach for ready meals when they need a convenient option for a quick meal or snack during their busy daily schedules. As the pace of life in Swedish cities continues to accelerate, busy urban…

Despite tightened budgets and ongoing price increases, ready meals has continued to experience steady volume growth in 2023 as consumers seek convenient and fast meal solutions. Interestingly, the increase in food prices has benefited the category,…

Category players are customising their products to cater for various formats demanded by consumers sensitive to new lifestyle trends, such as South Korea's millennials and Generation Z, to maximise convenience. For instance, one of the habits among…

As in the previous year, in 2023 ready meals and soups is set to see solid retail volume growth, along with dynamic double-digit current value growth as a result of inflationary price rises. The growing demand for healthy and convenient ready meals…

Meals and soups is rising in both volume and value terms in Slovenia in 2023. Increasingly busy lifestyles, work-from-home trends, a booming tourist season and persistent urbanisation are all contributing to overall growth for meals and soups thanks…

Demand for ready meals in 2023 is significantly impacted by the weakening purchasing power of Slovak households, which is causing consumers to cut back on spending. All category members are seeing volume sales declines. However, economy-priced ready…

Retail demand for ready meals has improved in 2023 following several years of decline in Singapore, as local consumers are attempting to adjust to spending increasing time outside of the home. Therefore, demand is being driven by convenience factors.…

In the post-pandemic era, many Serbians have resumed their busy lifestyles and this has stimulated demand for meals and soups. Frozen ready meals is witnessing the fastest retail volume growth thanks to its convenience and the diverse choice of…

Meals and soups witnessed positive growth in volume terms in 2023, thanks to the normalisation of consumer lifestyles post-pandemic, including the reopening of schools and the return of consumers to their physical workplaces. The number of women in…

Projected retail volume growth for some categories of meals and soups in 2023 is boosted by the total lifting of Coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions since 2022. This has led to a return to the office for employees for whom many of these products…

Noodles and pasta pots are experiencing positive growth thanks to their convenience and budget-friendly prices. Affordable ready meals, like these, have witnessed a surge in consumption, leading retailers to expand shelf space and introduce new…

Recent years have witnessed a surge in sales in ready meals and soups in Poland, thanks to innovative product launches. Dobrowolscy, renowned for high-quality delicatessen products, introduced a line of ready meals, Dobrowolscy od Kuchni, featuring…

Growth in the meals and soups category has been driven by value rather than volume. With a marked rise in prices generally, volume sales have contracted. This has been a particularly prominent feature of categories like this, which are usually not…

With the increasing pace of life in urban areas, consumers, including a significant population of working women, are seeking meal and soup options that can be prepared quickly and with minimal effort. Products that offer easy preparation, such as…

Sales of meals and soups have seen steady growth in retail volume terms in 2023 while value growth has been boosted by price rises. With consumers leading busier lives they are finding themselves with less time to prepare meals from scratch while…

In 2023, meals and soups experienced continued robust retail volume growth, propelled by the solid performance of shelf-stable ready meals and frozen pizza. Despite being the largest category, soups faced a moderate decline due to shifting consumer…

Meals and soups declined in volume terms in 2023 following a strong negative decline in 2022. This remains a relatively niche category in Nigeria and is widely considered non-essential. Consequently, as consumers focused on essentials and sought to…

Current value sales growth within meals and soups remains strong in 2023 with broader inflationary pressures a key contributor to this. While fuel costs have stabilised following the initial shock in 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the…

Many Moroccans perceive ready meals to be less healthy and not as tasty than freshly cooked food, while they also see them as more expensive options. With consumers more appreciative of taste, sensitive to price and, to a lesser extent, health and…

Health and wellness trends have been on the rise since the pandemic in Mexico. According to Euromonitor International's Voice of the Consumer: Lifestyles Survey 2023, 55% of consumers actively seek products containing healthy ingredients in their…

Around the world, a rising number of consumers are looking to cut down on their consumption of meat due to concerns about health, the environment and animal welfare, and manufacturers are increasingly targeting this trend with new product…

Meals and soups is expected to register both current value and volume growth in 2023. With society fully opened up post pandemic, and consumers leading busy lives, they appreciate the convenience of meals and soups. Ready meals account for most value…

Meals and soup is expected to register double-digit current value growth, though constant value growth will be muted, as continuing high inflation eats into profit margins. All the same, there will be some volume growth. Growth is not expected to be…

Positive growth in meals and soups continued to be seen in 2022, even if it was slower than in 2020, when consumers were looking for easy meal solutions during the long periods they were spending at home when the pandemic arrived in the region.…

There has been a growing demand for soups among consumers in Kenya. The landscape has quickly become one of the few industries that have witnessed a surge in demand after the outbreak of COVID-19. However, there is an overall perception in the…

Ready meals is recording further double-digit value growth in 2023, driven by an increase in the price of raw materials and logistics; however, growth is more moderate than it was in 2022. Retail volume sales are also growing steadily as consumption…

In May 2023, COVID-19 was reclassified as a class 5 infectious disease, which is the same level as influenza. The restrictions on group activities that had been in place since the first pandemic in February 2020 were therefore finally relaxed in…

Meal kits are becoming increasingly popular among Italian consumers. This trend is winning over more and more people because it offers many advantages. First, meal kits are very convenient and practical because they save time and effort. There is no…

Ready meals continues to benefit from the convenience trend in Israel, reflected in healthy current value growth in 2023. The enduring popularity of pizza has enabled it to register the strongest current value growth. Still, many local consumers…

During 2023, ready meals in Ireland experienced a surge, stimulated by innovative product offerings. Among these, The Gym Kitchen's Beef Lasagne and Tesco's Beautifully Balanced Chicken & Sweet Potato Katsu Curry stood out for their unique selling…

The meals and soup category experienced another year of positive growth in 2023, both in total volume and value terms. Ready meals was a key contributor to the category’s development during the year, specifically frozen ready meals. The growing urban…

The per capita consumption of ready meals in India in 2023 remained fairly low compared to the average in Asia Pacific. This modest figure can be attributed to limited market penetration and association of limited consumption occasions. Ready meals…