Frozen foods renaissance: Segment sees revival through innovation and reinvestment

22 Jul 2019 --- After years of decline, frozen food as a category is starting to see a revival through innovation and reinvestment. According to Innova Market Insights data, 25 percent growth was observed in frozen ready meal launches tracked globally between 2017 and 2018. Buoyancy in this segment is notably sustained by busy consumer lifestyles and an increasing demand for healthier, preservative-free options.

Despite established players having an advantage in terms of efficiencies in scale, smaller, insurgent brands have been noted as better positioned to make truly new and innovative products.

Mosaic Foods specializes in direct-to-consumer frozen foods.Mosaic Foods, a specialist in direct-to-consumer frozen foods, seeks to leverage the time-saving efficiencies of meal kit services within the segment. “While we don't have the buying power to source ingredients by the truckload, we do have the flexibility to be on the leading edge of trends in food, as well as the agility to bring those products to market,” Matt Davis, the company’s founder and CEO tells FoodIngredientsFirst.

Mosaic Foods claims that some “Big Frozen” manufacturers are often keen to shrink portion sizes, while utilizing less healthful ingredients to minimize costs. In contrast, “our food is made in a kitchen, not a factory,” the company states. The taste-tested natural ingredients the company sources are roasted, sauteed and seasoned by hand for optimum flavor, frozen and delivered straight to customers’ homes.

“Consumers are more educated today than ever before when it comes to the food they eat, how it's made and what's in it,” adds Davis. “One of the beautiful things about frozen food is that freezing is a preservative process, so if you source your food thoughtfully and cook it with care, there's no need to add any other junk.”

“For us, the next step is adding new product lines to supplement our six vegetarian grain bowls to give our customers more choices for lunch at work when they're at their busiest, or for convenient dinners at the end of a long day when cooking for an hour isn't exactly at the top of their to-do list. As for the recipes themselves, every week we talk to our best customers to better understand what kind of meals they are most interested in and we are continuously experimenting in our test kitchen to come up with the next big thing.”

Pre-packaged convenience
Where convenience is key, snacking is increasingly substituting regular meals. In this space, store-bought, pre-packaged frozen ingredients for smoothies are rising in popularity. The variety of products demanded by consumers is a challenge for the food industry, notes Dirk Naujoks, Director of Concentrates and Frozen Fruit at Bösch Boden Spies, a German importer of natural fruit ingredients. “Millennials are an especially tough crowd, as a growing number have demands for sustainability and transparency along the entire supply chain which supports environmentally-friendly usage of natural resources, and animal and human welfare.”

“Consumers are seeking convenience in ready-to-use frozen food products, which do not need to be cleaned, peeled or sliced,” says Naujoks. “Frozen blueberries can, for example, be poured directly into your frozen smoothie mix. Having an organic variant of these products gives us the chance to reach out for new target groups, adds additional competence to our service and enlarges our sales. Organic is a key trend for us to follow.”

Color is highlighted by Naujoks as a key driver of consumer purchasing behavior with regards to packaged frozen fruits. “Bright red, shiny yellow or deep purple fruit ingredients bring additional value to any product and are responsible for vibrant reformulations,” he says. “Additionally they are a natural source of functional benefits. Instead of buying three different ingredients to prepare a smoothie, consumers expect a ready-to-prepare serving size smoothie pouch. The same applies for ready meals. In the frozen meals category, we are observing a vast variety of recipes that serve trends such as paleo, gluten-free, dairy-free and vegetarian.”

Naujoks highlights that investing in raising the efficiencies of freezing food poses significant wastage reductions. According to the Food & Agriculture Organization, 1.3 billion tons of food worldwide is wasted annually, with 40 to 50 percent of this being lost post-harvest due to spoilage in transit. “The process of freezing foods is an effective method of reducing waste in the supply chain. Investing in better forecasting, leaner operations and sourcing when possible during peak seasons are all great ways to chip away at waste,” he adds.

Frozen food tech
Maintaining a product’s texture through distribution and shelf-life is key to meeting customer expectations. However, in frozen foods, ice crystal growth can ruin the texture of a product. Moreover, frozen products often go through multiple temperature fluctuations as they move through the distribution process, which can also affect the end product’s texture. BENEO developed an advanced thermal inhibition process that strengthens native rice starch granules, enhancing their functional properties.

“In the past, these issues have always been addressed by using modified starches, which have been altered physically, enzymatically or chemically to change their properties,” says Benoit Tavernier, Product Manager Specialty Rice Ingredients, BENEO. “However, for those manufacturers wanting to achieve clean-label status, using a modified starch is no longer an option.”

Over recent years, native starches have begun to be used to create clean-label product alternatives, he highlights. “However, the freeze-thaw cycle of frozen ready meals has still presented texture and mouthfeel challenges for modified starch replacements. Companies such as Nestlé are leading the way in looking to swap out modified starches for simple ones in key brands over the next few years. This is driving a drastic change in the industry. With more manufacturers looking to clean up their chilled and frozen ready meals, the introduction of a native rice starch that can withstand the freeze-thaw cycle and deliver in terms of texture and mouthfeel is essential to clean-label progress.”

Earlier this year, BENEO developed an advanced thermal inhibition process that strengthens native rice starch granules, enhancing their functional properties. This technology has created Remypure S52, a clean-label functional rice starch comparable or superior to chemically modified food starches – without the use of chemicals.

As well as proving its worth in clean-label retorted sauces, Remypure S52 has undergone recent trials in frozen sauces, with impressive results. During recent frozen sauce trials, the team at the BENEO-Technology Center compared two tomato sauces, one clean-label test recipe using native rice starch and one using Remypure S52. The latter responded significantly better both in terms of texture and mouthfeel, following repeated freeze-thaw cycle tests.

By Benjamin Ferrer