Ready Meals: Top Products 2019

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Ambient is fast becoming the new fresh. At least, in the world of ready meals. The value of the chilled market – typically the star player in ready meals – is down £33.6m due to a drop in average prices. Frozen, meanwhile, is down £2.6m as volumes slip.

By contrast, ambient ready meals are up in both value and volume. The market has amassed an extra £4.4m thanks to a wave of packaging and flavour innovation.

Take market leader Pot Noodle, which grew £1.8m. Perhaps its most notable innovation was the Asian Street Style sub-brand, described as “the fancy newcomer”. Not only is it healthier than a standard Pot Noodle – it uses rice noodles to reduce the calorie load – but it also plays into the growing demand for Asian flavours.

“Demand for flavours from across the globe is at an all-time high, and Asian dishes in particular are experiencing year-on-year growth,” says a Unilever spokeswoman.

She’s got a point. Unilever’s world-inspired Prep Co brand has more than tripled in value to be worth just under £1m. Meanwhile, Asian-style brands were among the fastest-growing in ambient ready meals, from Nissin (up 57.1% to £8.4m) to Itsu (up 33% to £3.7m). The former supplier built on that appetite in June with the launch of Japanese brand Cup Noodles.

Still, it’s not all about world flavours. Veggie NPD is flying, as evidenced by the launch of Quorn’s ambient range (below). It’s proving a similarly winning formula in chilled. See Charlie Bigham’s, which has bucked the sector’s decline with near 25% value growth. CEO Patrick Cairns says its veggie range, launched last year, “continues to attract new consumers into our brand”. It is also “building rate of sale on our core range of classic dishes” and increasing distribution.

On the flip side of that coin, duck ready meals brand Gressingham Foods has become the fourth biggest in the fresh sector. The massive 59% rise in sales comes after the launch of its Bistro offer last year.

So it seems innovation pays off in ready meals – whether that’s a fancy duck meal or Asian instant noodles.

The Top Products

In association with nielsen

Top 10 Ambient ready meals
				£m	change (£m)	change (%)
			Total Category:	201.6	4.4	2.2
Total volume change:	0.90%		Total Own Label:	3.0	-1.8	-37.8

This year’s rank	Last year’s rank	Brand	Manufacturer	£m	change (£m)	change (%)
1	1	Pot Noodle	Unilever	114.5	1.8	1.6
2	2	Batchelors	Premier Foods	16.5	0.2	1.9
3	3	Naked Noodle	Symingtons	16.2	0.0	0.3
4	4	John West	John West Foods	11.1	2.6	19.0
5	6	Nissin	Nissin	8.4	3.0	57.1
6	7	Kabuto Noodles	Kabuto	4.4	-0.4	-7.9
7	5	Uncle Bens	Mars	4.1	-1.8	-30.3
8	10	Itsu	Metcalfes	3.7	0.9	33.0
9	8	Dolmio	Mars	3.2	-1.5	-32.6
10	9	Mug Shot	Symingtons	3.1	-1.3	-30.1

Top 10 Frozen ready meals
				£m	change (£m)	change (%)
			Total Category:	382.8	-2.6	-0.7
Total volume change:	-1.30%		Total Own Label:	210.7	-0.2	-0.1

This year’s rank	Last year’s rank	Brand	Manufacturer	£m	change (£m)	change (%)
1	1	Slimming World	Loxton Foods	64.9	3.2	5.2
2	3	Bisto	Kerry Foods	16.3	2.3	16.1
3	2	Weight Watchers	Kraft Heinz Co	13.6	-8.9	-39.5
4	5	Kershaws	Kershaws	11.6	-0.2	-1.4
5	4	Young’s	Young’s	11.2	-2.4	-17.6
6	6	Cook	Fresh Alternatives	6.8	0.3	5.2
7	7	Mr Brains	Kerry Foods	5.8	0.1	2.2
8	8	Amys	Amy’s	5.5	-0.1	-1.7
9	9	Birds Eye	Nomad Foods	5.2	0.6	13.6
10	10	Aunt Bessies	Nomad Foods	4.2	0.0	0.2

Top 10 Chilled ready meals
				£m	change (£m)	change (%)
			Total Category:	2306.1	-20.8	-0.9
Total volume change:	-0.20%		Total Own Label:	2156.2	-30.4	-1.4

This year’s rank	Last year’s rank	Brand	Manufacturer	£m	change (£m)	change (%)
1	1	Charlie Bigham’s	Bigham’s	77.2	15.3	24.7
2	2	Little Dish	Little Dish	9.0	-3.7	-29.1
3	4	Mcintosh	Strathmore Foods	7.7	0.1	1.3
4	6	Gressingham	Gressingham Foods	6.9	2.6	59.0
5	3	Weight Watchers	Greencore Group	6.9	-1.1	-14.1
6	7	Kirstys	Kirsty’s	3.9	-0.4	-8.3
7	5	Nisa	Nisa	3.6	-0.9	-20.2
8	11	Country Choice	Country Choice	2.2	0.4	23.7
9	10	Mumtaz	Mumtaz Food Products	2.0	0.1	6.1
10	13	A&P	Strathmore Foods	1.9	0.2	11.1

The Grocer’s Top Launch

Quorn_Thai_Infused_Wonder_Grains - smaller

Quorn ambient range by Monde Nissin

In June, meat-free giant Quorn moved beyond frozen and chilled with its first-ever ambient range. The eight-strong selection includes Wonder Grains snack pots in Thai Style, Mediterranean and Mexican Three Bean, and bowl meals in Chilli Bean, Biriyani and Spiced Chickpea & Lentil. Each variant boasts a shelf life of around 12 months, and features freeze-dried pieces of Quorn’s vegetarian alternatives to chicken or mince – as the brand aims to become a store cupboard staple.