TrendsGrowing frozen soup segment

The freezer case is poised as the next place for soup sales to grow. Economic uncertainty is bringing consumers back home to eat; yet they still yearn for the quality and ethnic variety they’ve gotten used to from restaurant dining. Frozen soups offer manufacturers a way to deliver minimally processed products that are nutrient rich, while preserving fresh flavors and ensuring food safety—all important consumer touchpoints.

Price sensitivity has consumers eating at home more often, but that doesn’t mean they want to cook more often. Many younger consumers lack or have limited cooking skills. At the same time, older consumers may know how to cook, but prefer not to. This has consumers turning to the freezer case for the convenience, value and variety it offers them.

Frozen food category growth is one of the bright spots in the food business. Each year for the past five, CAGR has been nearly six percent, and this growth rate is expected to continue through 2013. As consumers stock up on frozen items, grocers are giving more space to the category—the average length of the freezer case has doubled since 1990 to about 400 feet today.

Within the frozen sector, frozen/refrigerated soup is a small, but growing area. 2010 units were up 11 percent vs. a year ago. (Fresh flavor and increasing natural and organic claims appear to be contributing to the expanding volume in frozen/refrigerated soup sales.)

Growth in the category as a whole is expected to continue because consumers find frozen foods:

• Safe
• Convenient
• Economical
• Nutritious
• Tasty

With these fundamentals met, nearly one-quarter of suppers eaten at home include a frozen dish. Quality, innovation, flavor variety and restaurant co-branding are driving sales and letting consumers enjoy meals that are not part of their normal cooking repertoire. Co-branding offers consumers a taste of their restaurant experience at home without the cost.

As the economy recovers, frozen food sales will stay strong as fiscally cautious consumers continue to eat at home. This price sensitivity makes frozen items appealing. Frozen foods deliver good value, help consumers minimize waste, offer portion control and allow shoppers to minimize trips to the grocery store, because the items are easily storable.

Increasingly Americans are exposed to unique flavors and new cuisines watching food/epicurean/travel programming on television and the Internet. This exposure along with a decade’s long increase in dining out has consumers seeking to recreate these food adventures at home.

Italian, Mexican and Chinese cuisines are the most popular ethnic cuisines in the U.S. Some popular ethnic dishes like pizza are so assimilated that they’re not even considered ethnic any longer. Up and coming ethnic cuisines finding their way onto American plates are Caribbean, Indian, Thai and Japanese. (The trend in Japanese food is mostly in the form of sushi.)

Umami—the fifth basic taste—is rising to prominence as Americans are exposed to this complex, savory taste found in assorted fermented and aged foods. Seaweed, meat stocks, Parmesan cheese, soy sauce and tomatoes also feature umami.

Despite growing interest in exotic foodstuffs, when it comes to soup, Americans go for the familiar and comforting. Chicken soups are top sellers both in restaurants and at retail. Chicken noodle and chicken tortilla soups have crossed over from restaurant menus to lead sales in the frozen/refrigerated soup sector. Other soups moving from restaurant to frozen are vegetable-based and hearty types of soup that are both nourishing and satisfying.

Formulators can capitalize on the growing demand within the frozen soup sector with Portionables^® ingredients.  Portionables^® are IQF soup base pellets that give product developers an innovative way to deliver minimally processed, fresh-tasting soup. Because of their unique processing, Portionables^® remain nutrient-rich and are preservative-free. The Portionables^® manufacturing process retains the fresh flavor, texture and color of soup ingredients, such as vegetables, pasta, herbs and cream.

Product developers can package Portionables^® IQF soup base pellets with other ingredients like pasta, protein or vegetables into a speed-scratch soup meal kit format. Examples include: Enchilada soup with Portionables^® tortilla soup base pellets, black beans, roasted red pepper and corn; Chicken & Dumpling soup, with Portionables^® chicken broth pellets, shredded chicken and dumplings; Shrimp Gumbo with Portionables^® seafood stock pellets, shrimp and rice.

Food formulators are invited to customize a Portionables^® soup base as an ingredient for their next new soup product or line extension in the Sargento Idea Center.