Finding meal ideas during the two months of confinement was sometimes a challenge. To avoid eating the same thing every day, the French have widely approved frozen products.
Read also: Appliances, outdoors, decoration: what the French have been buying since deconfinement
In March and April, these products experienced a sustained increase of 30%. This growth can be found in specialized stores, Picard in the lead, with an increase of 28% over the first four weeks of confinement. Frozen foods even surpassed fresh produce, like the cordon-bleu wines, which grew 2.5 times faster than the fresh produce department: + 60% compared to + 24%. Likewise for cooked vegetables but also meat (+ 55% against + 26%) and pizzas (+ 21% against + 4%). A phenomenon that does not date from confinement, notes Nicolas Léger, Director of Analytics at Nielsen, who notes an increasingly present routine of these products: "In 10 years the share of refrigerator products in consumption has increased by almost 6 points , to the detriment of those in the closet. "
Especially since frozen products offered an undeniable advantage during confinement where the purchase of groceries was less frequent than in normal times: they keep for a long time. This is also the case for canned goods, but they have experienced a much less significant increase. In fact, "if the first weeks of confinement worked in favor of canned food from the grocery department, which were mass-stocked by the French, the fact remains that the latter drew more from their reserve of frozen products afterwards," notes the Nielsen firm. " This tendency to consume fresh products probably explains in part the appetite for frozen products to the detriment of canned goods stored in cupboards" , specifies Nicolas Léger.
More restrictive storage
However, the storage capacity in French freezers remains limited. Only 27% have actually stocked and stockpiled frozen savory products, compared to 53% who reported having stockpiled canned goods. If only 8% of households do not have freezers, "consumers also have to make do with the limited storage space in their freezer - storage which is more restrictive than for canned goods or pasta, and which can generate a return faster in stores, ” notes Adèle Evrard, consultant Nielsen.
The success of frozen products could continue beyond containment. "It will mainly depend on the frequency with which consumers go to the store - if it remains below pre-containment, the recovery of frozen food will be sustainable, which could encourage hypermarkets and supermarkets to give them more space in points of sale ” , analyzes Daniel Ducrocq, Director of Distribution Services.
