Drive Traffic in single serve frozen for the New Year

Entering into the New Year, consumers are looking for ways to get their eating habits back to normal following over-indulgence from the holidays. A main contributor to calorie overconsumption is portion distortion. Retailers can capitalize on Post Holiday healthy eating to drive sales in the frozen single serve aisle.

Recent research findings suggest that portion-controlled frozen meals eaten as part of a reduced-calorie eating plan helped participants learn proper portions. "Dietary Guidelines for Americans state that a key strategy for weight loss is proper portions," said Kristen Reimers, PhD, nutrition manager, ConAgra Foods. "People in our study found it easy to replace 10 meals per week with a frozen meal, and the results were really strong - weight loss, body fat loss and reduced waist circumference," she added.

The frozen meals category is number one when it comes to unit sales per buyer, per trip and total unit sales. It accounts for 21% of all units sold in the frozen food aisle.¹ Additionally, multi- and single-serve frozen meals generate the most trips per year (11) to the frozen food aisle, with an average expenditure of $8.32 per trip.

Emphasis on the balance of nutrition and taste is important for health-oriented consumers who say taste is the most important meal attribute (68%) and more specifically, fresh taste (60%) is key.² A balance of meal options is also important — shelving recipes that span taste preferences, from comfort foods to contemporary recipes gives consumers the options they're looking for in the frozen single serve aisle.

Healthy food that tastes good? Top Chef-inspired Healthy Choice Cafè Steamers Misconceptions about the taste of good-for-you foods is a key barrier for these products. To help dispel those myths, ConAgra Foods teamed up with Bravo's Top Chef to create Top Chef-inspired Cafè Steamers, with the help of Ryan Scott, Top Chef contestant and Healthy Choice Flavor Ambassador. Consumers want to eat better, but they're not willing to trade taste for health. New Top Chef recipes from Healthy Choice give consumers the best of both worlds. As the "Healthy Choice Flavor Ambassador," Ryan Scott will promote the exclusive line of Healthy Choice Top Chef Inspired Cafe Steamers and work with Healthy Choice to create new entrees aimed at surprising and delighting consumers. To learn more about growing the frozen meals category, contact your ConAgra Foods sales representative.

¹ IRI Total U.S., all outlet consumer panel, 2010
² Source: ConAgra Foods Need-State Study, Oct. 2010