This report examines the ready meals industry in Ireland, a market that has seen its value grow by some 63% since 1998. The report investigates the dynamics that drive and, at times, curtail the market from further growth and development. While this is the first time Mintel has scrutinised the ready meals market in Ireland in such depth, the ready meals sector has been highlighted in other food sector reports. Covering ambient, chilled and frozen ready meals sold in RoI and NI, Mintel's report provides a unique analysis of the market's size, trends, structure and consumers, offering you a fresh and extensive insight into:

How rapid development of the chilled sector has attributed to the market's impressive growth

How the frozen sector has responded to competition from chilled products and the resulting impact on the overall market's shape and character

The social factors attributed to growth levels

The extent to which the chilled cabinet is driving market growth in the ready meals sector

The effects of enhanced awareness and increased concern over health issues – the healthy options and their key target markets

Opportunities in the vegetarian and ethnic meals sectors

Demand for convenience cuisine and meat-based dishes

The growth the snacking culture and instant snack meals

The persuasion of advertising

The growing domination of multiples in the convenience foods sector

A higher penetration of ready meals among females

Why future growth will be ruled by lifestyles and dietary tastes

For the benefits of this report, the essential requirements for a product to fall within the ready meals category are: firstly, that there has been some element of recipe input, beyond mere processing, on the part of the manufacturer; and secondly, that the product is already prepared and part-cooked to the point where it needs only to be heated. Raw meal centres like sausages, marinated chops and steaks and prepared meal centres that are rarely eaten without other foods, such as fish fingers, are excluded. A notable exception from this definition is the exclusion of fish in sauce, which trade tends to categorise separately. These definitions do not necessarily correspond to those used by some manufacturers, some of which include products like burgers and stir-fry vegetables within their definition. Mintel includes burgers only if they are packaged in a bread roll with chips, and stir-fry vegetables only if they have some meat or meat substitute content.

Following these definitions, this report provides new analysis of:

Market drivers/ Market sizes/ Market segmentation/ The supply structure/ Advertising and promotion/ Distribution/ Consumer trends/ Future prospects/ Market forecasts