Although the maturity of the UK ready meals market has resulted in static growth in terms of sales value between 2007 and 2012, it is forecasted to grow significantly at a CAGR of 4.7%, between 2012 and 2017. In recent years, much attention has been paid to cooking becoming more common among men: it is no longer viewed as a chore and is more often considered as a life-skill akin to having a successful career, one that can enhance a person’s image. However, while this is indeed true to an extent, UK males are still more reliant on ready meals than women.
Despite social shifts, and a dominant media presence that has overstated their impact, women are still typically more likely to take on traditional roles within the family home, such as looking after the dietary habits of children and cooking. Consequently, women tend to have more time and motivation to cook, in addition to possessing the confidence to prepare a more varied selection of meals. Thus, despite a growing segment of the male population that is more confident of their role in the kitchen, it is important not to overstate this trend, with male consumption of ready meals still being 4.3% higher than the proportion of society they represent.
Unlike the gender split, however, an analysis of different age groups’ consumption of ready meals does not reveal any particular group that significantly under- or over-consumes in the UK ready meals market. This is a reflection of how consumers of all ages and life-stages (for example, with or without children) have in some degree integrated convenient and processed food products into their diet that is, in turn, influenced by busy lifestyles.
It is this shift in lifestyle that has emerged as the largest motivator for indulging in ready meals in the UK: consumers are tending to delay responsibilities such as marriage and children in favor of more ambitious personal and/or professional goals. In the coming years, it is expected that UK consumer lifestyles will become even more complex, with individuals becoming more ambitious and wanting to achieve a number of professional and personal goals before actually deciding to settle down. This is a reflection of a broader desire to become more adventurous, something that will tend to influence product choices: consumers will demand products that offer excitement and convenience which, in turn, will drive demand for ethnic and exotic products.
Convenience, which in many aspects sums up the aforementioned lifestyle drivers, is the key motivator of ready meal occasions in the UK. However, it is crucial that ready meal manufacturers do not become overtly reliant on positioning their products around the ‘convenience’ factor, and seek to elicit an emotional reaction from consumers by partially focusing on the indulgent aspects of products. This will serve to assure consumers that they are not unnecessarily sacrificing pleasure for convenience.
The desire for new experiences continues to be a motivator of consumer behavior, and this is reflected in the way consumers tend to seek adventure through experimental choices in food consumption. In the ready meals category, many consumers are no longer satisfied with the broad labels of ‘Indian’ or ‘Chinese’, and instead desire more regional-specific dishes that imply a greater sense of authenticity.
As this trend continues, the premium ready meals market is predicted to become a focal point for the industry, as it seeks to persuade consumers that ready meals should not be solely associated with fitness
related purposes, but can also meet the increasingly adventurous and indulgent needs of the UK’s population.
For further insights,
UK Ready Meals Market
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