Back to the ice age

The recession and a renewed interest in traditional British comfort food have gone hand in hand to fuel the revival of frozen food. Sheila Eggleston reports.

Last year was a tough year – the recession, tighter purse strings and a sharper perception of value by consumers gave the majority of caterers a lot to think about.

But British Frozen Food Federation (BFFF) director general Brian Young says this probably did much to  improve frozen food's status, a market currently worth around £2.2bn. Two studies it conducted last year with the Manchester Food Research Centre (MFRC) has helped to convince chefs of its value. "We've worked hard to dispel some of the myths," he says.

"I suspect it was a difficult year for everyone last year. Travel and leisure and full service restaurants had a particularly hard time. January was worse because of the weather, and this is the time when more people should be turning to frozen food. The best category is QSR – research in the last quarter highlights burgers, chips, chicken and pizza." Young doesn't believe the recession will end this year but says he thinks the fear of the recession will have ended.

"People are becoming used to living with the situation as it is today. Once we have a new government [in the next election], whatever persuasion it is, we will see taxes and public spending increase so that too means the debt problem is still to come. When the next bout of pain comes along it will impact on the foodservice sector and it will have to be smarter to keep people eating out. All the discounting should continue; but people will be sharper about the promotions – less money in them but a lot of noise."

One of the good things about frozen food is its long history of innovation, he says, and the industry is always looking for the next developments and new ideas, and refreshing ranges, and this is reflected in entries for the BFFF annual awards being up this year 20%-25%.

"When people don't have a lot of money they go for tried and tested flavours and old ones have done well.

People aren't going to risk trying something they haven't tried before and get disappointed. But this won't kill innovation. People will just find traditional things even more interesting. An example is how meat pies have become really trendy. Companies such as Higgledy Piggledy have come up with some interesting products."

According to the Country Range Group (CRG), forecasters predict that market winners will be operators and  suppliers who tap into consumers' rising demand for better value, convenience, authenticity, local sourcing and "added experience". Purchasing manager Martin Ward says: "This is especially so when you consider that consumers are turning their backs on 'exciting and new' in favour of traditional, comfort food. The dilemma is chefs who are pushed for time and need to source convenient food made with first class ingredients. Frozen is the way forward if you have a supplier that only invests in the best products on the market."

CRG has responded to the demand for sweets that provide a simple solution for a traditional British menu with sticky toffee, syrup, chocolate chip and jam sponge puddings and spotted dick. "Traditional puddings are a hot favourite in this country and, perhaps during tough times, they have grown in popularity along with a trend for all things retro," adds Ward.

This view is echoed by DBC senior buyer Ian Day, who says many pub customers are now choosing to opt for traditional fare including fish and chips, classic pies and puds. "Although we've seen a revival in retro pub food for several years now, it has been more marked during the last six months. We have seen a definite increase for old favourites such as sticky toffee pudding, which are available in individual portions for ease of use."

He says during the current economic environment, the ability for clear financial management would offer any pub or restaurant an advantage, and pre-portioned frozen solutions means they know in advance how much they have paid per portion, how much margin they require and enable them to price point appropriately.  It is also important that caterers shouldn't feel guilty about using frozen products, he adds. "Remember, many of the world's top chefs use items such as frozen pastry to produce fresh desserts. This saves time and effort, and ensures consistency in terms of quality and presentation – an essential part of any pub or restaurant's food offering.

"There is sometimes a perception that frozen food is inferior to fresh, however it offers all the benefits of fresh with more flexibility. Whether it is carrots, cauliflower or broccoli, it is often argued that the process of freezing maintains higher levels of vitamins than many other products sold as fresh." BFFF data, he says, shows the vitamin C (mg per 100g)  in freshly picked peasis 22.1mg, which compares to 14.1mg after two days of picking, and a whopping 20.2mg in frozen peas.

DBC says chips and ice cream are among the categories in strong growth. Its customers are opting for different chip varieties such as skins on, thin, thick or seasoned chips, and in the last six months there has been a shift towards customers choosing to buy chips produced in the UK. Meanwhile the bulk of its ice cream sales – a must stock product for its major customers such as Gourmet Burger Kitchen, Little Chef, Loch Fyne, Prezzo and Young's & Co – are the staple vanilla, chocolate and strawberry flavours.

With regard to trends we are in an  ge where consumers expect to see their favourite food all year round, says Phil Cumming, UK sales and marketing director at Lamb Weston/Meijer, and frozen food helps caterers meet this demand and offer an extensive menu of popular dishes throughout the year.

"For the pub and restaurant sectors particularly, frozen chips have a number of advantages over fresh. The benefits are so great that pubs and restaurants see incredible volumes sold each year."  Crown Foods has expanded its Simply range to offer larger sizes of its bestsellers such as MSC salmon and  sweet potato fishcake and Simply Not Fried pollock, and says confidence in frozen food has grown as research proves freshness is preserved in the freezing process and bacteria cannot multiply because of it. Frozen food allows us to supply fully cooked, portion controlled and individually quick frozen products, says managing director John Pickett, which makes life easier in the kitchens, allows flexible menus and consistency while giving the benefit of food safety.

Plusfood foodservice manager, Les Webb, says it is easier to add value and many of its customers use its frozen chicken as the starting point for recipes that they enhance with their own finishing touches. Provenance too, remains a strong selling point and this is reflected in the launch of our stuffed fillets which include Aegean tomato, basil and balsamic vinegar, and Davidstow cheddar rarebit with chives." 

According to BFFF's Young, as we come out of the recession, sustainability will become more important. Research it conducted with the Carbon Trust identified cold chain energy savings and highlighted how using frozen food reduces CO² emissions and achieves cost savings, plus when it comes to wastage, there is very little. "When people understand sustainability better, the position for frozen food will strengthen. With a bumper harvest you can freeze it, use it from the reserves, and in the supply chain process nothing is lost. When it gets to establishments, it doesn't have to be thrown away. The benefit from less wastage will come through time and time again."