Frozen food sales fall in favour of fresh options

The ability to flash-freeze and package food was developed in the 1920s. Butabout 20 years later, after Thanksgiving,C.A. Swanson and Sons found itself with a large volume of leftoverturkey trimmings.

So the companyhit upon the idea of packaging turkey pieces and vegetables inaluminum trays, freezing them and selling them as complete meals.

The masterstrokewas calling them TV dinners, just as viewership was exploding.

This was the beginning of frozen foods dominance in the North American diet. Bythe 21st century, frozen foods were being consumed by 99 per centof U.S. households and hadaccounted for almost $9 billion in sales.

But something unusual began to happen in2008. Frozen food sales levelled and then began to fall.

Suddenly, "fresh" became the new marketing buzzword and consumers started turningaway from frozen food.

The relentless messaging by "fresh food" competitors helpedreinforce the perception that frozen food is lacking in taste, isexpensive andlow in nutritionalvalue, ishigh in sodium, calories and preservatives,and is portioned in sizes that encourageobesity.

But the frozen food industry isnt about to give up. In May, the American Frozen FoodInstitute launched a $90-million campaign to tell its side of the story.

On top of that, individual frozen food marketers are also working to change perceptions.For instance, Healthy Choice removed some unfriendly-sounding chemical ingredientsfrom its frozen entrees.

Meanwhile,this marketer is attempting to rebrand what most peoplerefer to as the freezer section of their supermarket

Another Lean Cuisine sub-brand is even trying to combine fresh with frozen, to create anew niche.

Unfortunately, turning frozen food around is going to be a challenge. Having beenexposed to an unending stream of ads claiming that fresh is tastier and healthier,Millennials are moving away from frozen food much faster than their parents.

Itmeans, for the foreseeable future, consumers are likely to give frozen food a chillyreception.