The growth of the UK convenience sector has slowed since 2002 and consumers are increasingly cooking food from scratch, new research has shown.
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According to Mintel, in 2003 less than 24% of UK consumers said that they “always cooked from scratch” but today this figure has risen to 41%.
Only 11% of people now regularly use the microwave to cook an evening meal.
“Convenience food now accounts for over GBP3 (US$6) in every GBP10 spent on food. However, there are signs that the market is maturing and growth since 2002 has been slower than the food market in total,” a Mintel analysts commented.
Mintel told just-food that one of the main reasons for this trend is the move towards healthier lifestyles.
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By GlobalData“While ready meals are a major part of the convenience sector growing by almost 70% over the past decade to account for over GBP2.7bn in 2007, growth has slowed from 46% in the first five years to 16% since 2002. Customers have traded up to chilled from frozen partly due to the perceived health benefits of the former. Nevertheless, even these have received a less than healthy image,” Mintel said.
