Frozen food market in the UK - statistics and facts
The frozen food market in the United Kingdom has been growing rapidly. Rising prices for consumers have helped the industry record sales values in recent years. Over the past decade, the retail sales value of frozen food has risen by 50 percent in the United Kingdom. Much of that increase has occurred in the last five years. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ukraine war, and the ensuing food price inflation, the value of this market has increased by 36 percent.
Whether due to rising food prices or customer loyalty to favorite brands, the UK frozen food market continues to grow, enjoying it's best performance in years. Although rising value from price increases may be temporary, the industry has another reason to be hopeful about the future. A significant amount of younger consumers consider convenience, as frozen products provide, to be a priority in their food choices.
2023 was a banner year for frozen food
In 2023, manufacturer sales of frozen vegetables saw a record high of 302 million British pounds. Likewise, imports of frozen vegetables also had their best year in 2023, reaching 362 million pounds in value in the UK. Fish, another frozen favorite also recorded its best ever year in 2023 with 187 million pounds in manufacturer sales and almost one billion pounds in import value.Consumers' favorite brands
Birds Eye, owned by Nomad Foods in the UK, is the leading brand for both frozen vegetables and frozen fish. The company registered 72 million pounds in sales of their main brand of frozen vegetables and an additional 36 million pounds for their Steamfresh vegetables brand in 2023. Birds Eye generated much greater sales with frozen fish products in the same year at nearly 176 million pounds. Birds Eye also had significantly more consumers than other branded frozen vegetable and fish products. Compared to the next best-selling frozen brand, Aunt Bessie's, Birds Eye had more than three times the number of consumers of its frozen vegetable products. The brand has less dominance in the frozen fish market where Young's Seafood products are the other major player.Whether due to rising food prices or customer loyalty to favorite brands, the UK frozen food market continues to grow, enjoying it's best performance in years. Although rising value from price increases may be temporary, the industry has another reason to be hopeful about the future. A significant amount of younger consumers consider convenience, as frozen products provide, to be a priority in their food choices.
