Ready Meals in Peru

2020 IMPACT

COVID-19 boosts sales of frozen pizzas in 2020, as lockdown restrictions cause people to spend more time at home

The COVID-19 lockdown restrictions caused sales of frozen pizzas to rise, particularly in the first half of 2020, as more consumers spend time at home and seek out accessible indulgences. With the foodservice industry closed during the lockdown period, and no options available for food delivery or take-out, frozen pizza gained popularity as an option for indulgence and as a treat for the family, particularly with children and teenagers.

New product developments as companies innovate to attract consumers in 2020

A range of new product developments have generated growth for a number of companies in Peru in 2020. For example, Casa Verde by Danper Trujillo introduced tamales in a variety of flavours including quinoa, corn and artichoke.

Ready meals undeveloped in Peru due to poor reputation

Ready meals will remained a niche in 2020, representing marginal share of overall packaged food. There are areas of ready meals that have not been explored such as chilled lunch kits, chilled pizza, chilled ready meals and dinner mixes.

RECOVERY AND OPPORTUNITIES

High unit price will remain a barrier for penetration into the forecast period

Ready meals are likely not to see widespread distribution in Peru into the forecast period. Cooking with fresh ingredients, instead of purchasing ready meals, is cheaper in Peru and unit price will remain extremely important to consumers in coming years, especially for medium and large families, which comprise the majority of Peruvian households.

New products and new manufacturers will enter ready meals in coming years

New products are expected to continue to enter ready meals into the forecast period, with innovations including frozen ready meals or shelf stable ready meals based on quinoa as well as tamales. Interestingly, most manufacturers are not specifically dedicated to producing ready meals; it is usually an extension of their core business, such as Pesquera Hayduk, which is mainly dedicated to shelf stable seafood, or DanPer Trujillo, which originally was an agricultural player.

Peruvian tradition favours freshly prepared meals, with ready meals likely to remain regarded unfavourably

Peruvians are expected to continue to cook their meals at home on a daily basis into the forecast period, using fresh ingredients which they also purchase every day from traditional small grocery retailers or market stalls. More affluent families will continue to purchase weekly from supermarkets or hypermarkets, which have a large variety of fresh products such as fruit, vegetables, meat, poultry or seafood.