About this reportThis report examines the market for selected convenience foods and assesses changes in lifestyle, demographics and eating habits in the UK which underlie marked trends towards convenience eating and away from home cooking and the family meal occasion.
Convenience foods in the UK are now valued at more than £7 billion and have recorded growth well above that in food sales generally – the food industry has pushed convenience in part because it offers added-value and bigger margins.
Convenience and 'fast' food has latterly been much maligned in the ongoing debate about diet and health in the UK and the industry is now at pains to demonstrate its social conscience as well as the fact that convenience does not necessarily mean unhealthy.
Rising disposable incomes in the UK have driven the development of premium convenience foods, particularly fresh, chilled lines, which are rapidly displacing frozen foods, once the staple of the market.
The market is dominated by own-label and by the major grocery multiples, all of whom are at pains to offer comprehensive ranges catering for every price point and including low-fat, low-salt, GM-free and additive-free products in a bewildering variety of recipes.
At the same time, cooking appears to be enjoying something of a revival in the UK, driven no doubt by the current glut of media chefs and cooking competitions on TV.
Jamie Oliver has single-handedly made cooking 'cool' and has undoubtedly helped raise the profile of the diet debate, especially in regard to children's eating habits.
However, there is much more interest in gourmet cooking than in the provision of family meals on a daily basis.