The ready meals market in Ireland is forecast to perform well in the coming year, with a 2.2% growth estimated for this market in 2015. Although this market is forecast for growth in the coming year, a significant portion of this growth is expected from the chilled ready meals market with this segment representing 80% of the Irish ready meals market.
With consumers remaining fearful of the contents of ready meals after the 2013 horsemeat scandal, this has prompted consumers towards scratch cooking for peace of mind in trustworthy ingredients. “Convenience” and “quick to prepare” remain the top qualities of ready meals, however, brands will need to leverage their credibility by promote their high-quality ingredients, in order to encourage more regular usage.
Other Mintel reports of relevance include:
Ready Meals – Ireland, October 2013
Prepared Meals Review – UK, May 2015
Prepared Meals Review – UK, May 2014
Meat and Meat Substitutes – Ireland, September 2015.
Definition
This report covers the NI and RoI retail market for ready meals, covering chilled, frozen and ready-to-cook meals. Whilst meal kits are discussed in the section in the report, they are not included in the Market Size and Forecast section.
For the purposes of this report four main categories of ready meals will be discussed:
Chilled – Complete chilled meals which are required to be heated in the oven or microwave prior to serving, eg lasagne, tikka masala, spaghetti Bolognese. This consists of a single meal so consumers do not need to add items such as vegetables, pasta or rice, such as single ethnic dishes like chicken tikka.
Frozen – Complete frozen meals which are required to be heated in the oven or microwave prior to serving, eg shepherd’s pie, curry and rice.
Ready-to-cook meals – These are meals that need no further preparation other than opening a packet and cooking (usually in the oven) the products according to the on-pack instructions, eg Tesco Fresh & Easy Chicken Breast with Sage & Onion Stuffing.
Meal kits – Meals such as these require assembly and/or the addition of ingredients to create a complete meal, such as fajita kits which include tortillas, salsa and spice mix, but require the addition of vegetables and/or meat/chicken.
