Frozen fortune

Goodfella's Pizza leads the frozen pizza category in Ireland with a 47.1% share

Perceived as ‘locking in' nutrition and offering convenient mealtime options, the global frozen prepared-food industry is experiencing strong growth and is expected to reach sales of a whopping €142 billion by 2015, writes Gillian Hamill

Brand Central

21 January 2014

Share this post:

Frozen

AT A GLANCE: FROZEN FOODS

Goodfella’s Pizza leads the frozen pizza category in Ireland with a 47.1% share
Goodfella’s Takeaway pizzas valued at €5.4 million, are leading the way within the takeaway pizza segment
Goodfellas Deep pizza remains the number one pizza within the deep pizza range
The Goodfellas Thin remains a family favourite valued at €8.7 million and continuing to lead the way within this sector
Green Isle is the number one frozen vegetables brand** with 45% market share
Green Isle is the number one frozen stir-fry brand**
Green Isle Skinny Cut Oven Chip is the number one** performing chip in the category
Green Isle is the number one brand** in potato wedges, croquettes and hash browns
Donegal Catch is Ireland’s number one frozen fish brand and has achieved market share gains, growing overall share from 46% to a 48% value share***
In the fish fingers category, Donegal Catch is experiencing 22% MAT growth with the re-launched 15 pack, 10 pack and Omega Fish Fingers offers.
Birds Eye is the number one food brand in the frozen category in Ireland with three in four households in the country choosing to serve Birds Eye products at mealtimes****
In a recent feature in ShelfLife, Birds Eye came seventh in the "Top 100 Grocery Master Brands at Home” research by Kantar*****
Birds Eye Fish Fingers are Ireland’s best-selling fish fingers with 70.3% market share MAT****
Birds Eye is the number one brand in poultry. This position is held in both the adult poultry (50.9% market share) and the kids poultry (53.1% market share) sectors****
Birds Eye Peas are Ireland’s number one peas with a value market share of 44%****
Birds Eye Waffles remain the number one waffles in Ireland outselling the nearest branded competitor by 14:1****
McCain Foods maintains its position of Ireland’s number one frozen potato brand with a 42% value share******
McCain Oven Baked Jackets are experiencing 47% YOY value growth

*(Source: Nielsen Scantrack, Nov 2013)
**(Source: Nielsen – MAT Nov 03/13)
***(Source: Nielsen Mat Nov 2013)
****(Source: MAT Nielsen W/E DEC 1, 2013)
*****(Source: ShelfLife June 2013)
******(Source: Nielsen Scantrack MAT Value Sales up to 3 November 2013)

In recent years, consumers have turned to the frozen food category in order to minimise waste and pay lower prices. They also perceive frozen foods to have "locked-in" nutrients, as both manufacturers and retailers have worked hard to re-build the image of frozen foods.

They have responded to consumer demand for healthier products by emphasising health benefits of their products such as omega-3 in fish products and by cutting down on the amount of fat and salt in their ranges. According to a recent Bord Bia report, retailers have promoted their premium private labels in the category which has helped overcome the image of frozen foods being a cheap alternative to chilled foods.

Goodfella’s Pizza leads the frozen pizza category in Ireland with a 47.1% share

Irish company grabs big slice of action

A great Irish success story in food, Goodfella’s Pizza leads the frozen pizza category in Ireland with a 47.1% share, outperforming its competitors over the past year*. With a range to suit all the family’s needs, Goodfella’s says it has committed investment to ongoing product improvements and innovation to drive excitement into the category.

From Goodfella’s new range of Extra Thin, the everyday special occasion pizza along with the core lines of fully loaded Deep, the family’s favourite Thin, to that perfect night in Takeaway pizza and its pizzeria style Flatbread, these innovations have helped to create new pizza eating occasions and are bringing more shoppers into the category.

With the widest range of pizzas available to consumers nationwide, Goodfella’s continues to lead the way within the frozen pizza category. With impressive sales to support this success story, the group believes the numbers say it all.

With Goodfella’s Extra Thin pizzas, consumers can enjoy an everyday special occasion pizza with unique premium toppings

Goodfella’s makes a range of pizzeria style Flatbread pizzas

Goodfella’s Takeaway pizzas valued at €5.4 million, are leading the way within the takeaway segment. What’s more, the Goodfellas Deep pizza remains the number one pizza within the deep pizza range delighting loyal consumers for over 20 years.

The Goodfellas Thin remains a family favourite valued at €8.7 million and is continuing to lead the way within this sector. With the addition of Goodfella’s Extra Thin pizzas, consumers can now enjoy an everyday special occasion pizza with unique premium toppings to satisfy consumer palettes across Ireland.

This year, the brand will continue to be heavily supported with a relevant mix of media, including TV, outdoor, press, nationwide in-store and experiential and an ongoing campaign working with Love Irish Food.

As popular online as it is in people’s freezers, Goodfella’s Pizza has over 40,000 Facebook fans. By engaging with consumers on social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube Goodfella’s Pizza continues to evolve the way it connects with Irish pizza fans, delivering a digital slice of Italian life to houses across the country on a daily basis.

To find out more about the full range of Goodfella’s Pizza go to goodfellaspizza.com, facebook.com/GoodfellasIreland or twitter.com/GoodfellasIE.

*(Source: Nielsen Scantrack, Nov 2013)

Beat the mealtime brain freeze

Green Isle continues to lead the way in the frozen food category by offering a healthy and tasty range of vegetables, chips, potato and bread, giving Irish families a solution for all dinnertime dilemmas.

Green Isle is the number one frozen vegetables brand* with 45% market share and the ongoing ‘Buy any two for €2.50′ promotion continues to offer shoppers great value for money across the core vegetable range. The Green Isle Select range of roasting vegetables offers consumers a premium range of convenient products that fit perfectly for those special family meal occasions.

Green Isle is the number one frozen stir-fry brand* providing a nutritious range of vegetable stir-fries, which are convenient for today’s consumers who are looking for quick and healthy meal solutions. Green Isle also offers consumers a range of convenient oven chips and the Green Isle skinny cut oven chip is the number one* performing chip in the category. Green Isle is also the number one brand* in potato wedges, croquettes and hash browns.

The new Green Isle campaign ‘Beat the mealtime brain freeze’ is all about the moment of bafflement that ensues when you simply can’t decide what to prepare for dinner. The campaign is being supported with outdoor, radio, digital and in store POS.
Watch out in-store for new and exciting products from Green Isle throughout 2014.

*(Source: Nielsen – MAT Nov 03/13)

Ireland’s favourite fish brand

Donegal Catch, Ireland’s number one frozen fish brand has consolidated its position as the brand leader in the frozen fish sector with market share gains, growing overall share from 46% to a 48% value share*.

Donegal Catch continues to be the number one brand in the breaded fish category with a range of products for all the family. In the fish fingers category, Donegal Catch is experiencing 22% MAT growth with the re-launched 15 pack, 10 pack and Omega Fish Fingers offers.

Irish consumers are very discerning in choosing their frozen fish brand. Recent trends indicate Irish consumers continue to seek more natural and local products when purchasing food groceries. Health and wellness credentials are also strong consumer frozen fish purchase motivators when buying fish. These trends bode well for the future of Donegal Catch as the only brand sourcing 100% Natural Fish Fillets, using one single prime fillet.

Donegal Catch offers a range of breaded fish products suitable for all the family

Aisling Twomey, marketing manager, Donegal Catch says 2014 will be an exciting year for the company with ongoing advertising support, strong proven promotions as well as some innovative new products. This coupled with industry initiatives and in-store theatre, all of which are designed to drive people to the frozen fish category and the Donegal Catch brand, will drive new sales growth.

Donegal Catch recently launched a ‘Totally Tongue Twistingly Tasty’ campaign to build on the taste credentials of the brand with a radio and press campaign and will continue to build on this campaign throughout 2014.

*(Source: Nielsen Mat Nov 2013)

Birds Eye hits the spot

Birds Eye is the number one food brand in the frozen category in Ireland with three in four households in the country choosing to serve Birds Eye products at mealtimes.* In a recent feature in ShelfLife, Birds Eye came seventh in the "Top 100 Grocery Master Brands at Home” research by Kantar.** Birds Eye is the number one advertiser in frozen food and this year it intends to drive more consumers and shoppers to the frozen aisle with a massive new communication and activation plan across TV, digital and outdoor supported with strong consumer offers in-store.

Fabulous fish

Birds Eye’s fish strategy for 2014 is to deliver growth to the category with more innovation to mirror the success of its 2013 Melt in the Middle Fishcakes and Crispy Fish Bites launches. 2014 will see a market first in Fish Chargrills, grilled fish fillets with a choice of three different tasty flavours certain to appeal to natural fish lovers. New Birds Eye Potato Crunch is a crunchy coating of real potato adding variety to core Birds Eye favourites such as Birds Eye Fish Fillets, Fish Burgers and Fish Fingers.

Birds Eye Fish Fingers are Ireland’s best-selling and loved fish fingers with 70.3% market share MAT* and the brand aims to build on this with the help of a significant media support package and consumer offers at key periods throughout the year such as Lent and Easter. The first TV campaign of 2014 supporting the iconic Fish Finger commences on 6 January.

Birds Eye’s Bake to Perfection range remains a key driver of category value and a recent addition to the range (Bake to Perfection Cod Fillets with a Parsley and Thyme Sauce) has proved popular with consumers seeking the variety and quality associated with the range.

Poultry position

Birds Eye is the number one brand in poultry. This position is held in both the adult poultry (50.9% market share*) and the kids poultry (53.1% market share*) sectors.

As the market leader in kids poultry, Birds Eye is delivering what consumers want – quality, variety and everyday mealtime solutions on the back of strong in-store offers. This coupled with a new communication campaign throughout 2014 (commencing in March) aims to build even further on recent successes for Birds Eye, namely the launch of its 100% Chicken Space Shapes and Mild and Sweet BBQ Chicken Bites, both of which offer tender and superior chicken with a soft coating and mild flavouring, the perfect recipe for families in their quest for clean plates at mealtimes.

In 2014 the introduction of Birds Eye’s Chicken Inspirations will bring a completely new taste experience to the adult dining occasion. Made with 100% chicken breast with a variety of tasty fillings coated in breadcrumbs, Chicken Inspirations will demonstrate to consumers that the frozen aisle is the place to be inspired for great everyday meal ideas.

Vegetable plot

Recognising consumer demand for more inspiration in the frozen veg category, Birds Eye recently launched its Veg Fusions range. It offers a fusion of fresh vegetables complemented with authentic herbs and seasonings to give consumers a quick and tasty dish suitable for any meal. Similar to the successful Rice Fusions Range, Birds Eye’s innovation with Veg Fusions are transforming the category and both products (Field Fresh Garden Peas and Mint & Seasoned Peas and Sweetcorn) are already proving popular.

Birds Eye is a major player in the frozen veg category providing a consumer focused range that offers both value and superior quality. Only Birds Eye vegetables come with a field fresh guarantee – to deliver great tasting veg that is picked and frozen within hours to retain more vitamins. The Field Fresh range includes frozen favourites such as Garden Peas and Petit Pois as well as a great value two for €2.20 multipack offering. Birds Eye Peas are Ireland’s number one peas with a value market share of 44%.*

Wafflely versatile

Made with 100% real potato and free from artificial colours, flavours and preservatives Birds Eye Waffles remain the number one waffles in Ireland outselling the nearest branded competitor by 14:1.* To increase in-home consumption of waffles, Birds Eye is constantly innovating by introducing best-sellers such as Mini Waffles and Hash Brown Waffles. More recently the introduction of an 18 pack has added real choice and is increasing in popularity with heavy shoppers. This year, to add incremental sales to the category and to offer consumers a fresh and modern meal experience, Birds Eye is launching Mashtags – a modern twist on current favourites that will create even more choice for busy mums and excitement for kids at teatime while offering the same great recipe as the original Birds Eye Potato Waffle.

Biting into beef

Birds Eye’s red meat range had another successful year in 2013 outperforming the market in the second half of 2013. Key to its success is the strong range that appeals to all the family. Birds Eye’s Original Beef Burgers come in packs of four and eight and are ideal for kids at any mealtime occasion. For the consumer looking for a bigger bite Birds Eye has a Quarter Pounder four-pack offering. Birds Eye Beef Burgers are made with 100% Irish beef and the company maintains the highest standards through its supply chain, assuring consumers they can trust Birds Eye’s quality of beef sourcing.

In support of the range Birds Eye has a significant promotional calendar in place for 2014 and plans to reintroduce previous popular promotional packs in time for the busy BBQ period.

*(Source: MAT Nielsen W/E DEC 1, 2013)
**(Source: ShelfLife June 2013)

McCain Baked

Happy days

Building on the successful relaunch of the brand under the new marketing platform Happy Days and with a continued focus on four key category growth drivers – easier family meals, conversion from homemade potato, made for two, and sharing at home – McCain Foods maintains its position of Ireland’s number one frozen potato brand with a 42% value share*.

The Happy Days campaign will run again from January with a heavyweight advertising campaign for McCain Chips, which fits into the ‘easier family meals’ strategy, showcasing the joy and excitement of having chips for tea. As part of the same strategy McCain has also launched a programme of innovative NPD including new McCain Quick Cook Fries – Fries in five minutes from the oven**.

Gorgeous McCain

The ‘conversion from homemade potato’ activity will feature substantial support for McCain Oven Baked Jackets which are already experiencing 47% YOY value growth and are predicted to drive significant category growth in 2014 supported with TV, press, outdoor and online advertising.

The ‘sharing at home’ strategy featuring the McCain range of wedges flavours (including Lightly Spiced, Sea Salt and Black Pepper, Mexican and Caribbean wedges) continues to be supported by Film4 sponsorship with online competitions and NPD expected. While McCain Gorgeous Chips and Roast Potatoes are ideal products to drive growth within the ‘made for two’ strategy particularly with shoppers eating in more and tapping into key occasions such as Valentine’s Day and Easter.

Wedges

Linda Earlie, McCain marketing manager, said: "McCain will be unmissable over the next 12 months. It’s a big year for the brand and we have big plans to grow the brand and the category by changing the way we talk to the consumer.

"We are a nation of potato lovers and the Happy Days campaign places the enjoyment of our products at the very heart of all of our activity, whether it be McCain Chips, Jackets or Wedges. We have a portfolio of great tasting, convenient and high quality potato products that we are very proud of which bring little moments of joy to mealtimes across the country."

"As a result, we’re expecting to significantly grow the brand and the frozen potato category. We have never placed so much support behind our brand and we wouldn’t be doing that if we weren’t confident that we were going to be able to have a major impact."

*(Source: Nielsen Scantrack MAT Value Sales up to 3 November 2013)
**(From a fan assisted oven)

What does the future hold for Ireland’s frozen foods category?

‘The future of frozen food’ was the intriguing title of a presentation by Bord Bia’s head of consumer insight and innovation, Helen King, and sector manager frozen foods, Stephanie Moe on 10 May 2013.

Their research showed that in many developed markets, constrained incomes will continue to impact food choices. For instance, one in six people in the UK say rising food prices are making it difficult to eat healthily. The poorest 10% of households are buying 25% less fresh fruit than in 2007.

Reframing frozen

An important trend that will enable the frozen category to grow further in the future is reframing the role of frozen as a convenient meal solution, stretching beyond the ‘ready-meal’ to give greater control, flexibility and quality when cooking. Examples of this growing development include Coles frozen meal kits in the US, which provide "great tasting and convenient meals for the whole family". Another example of the trend hailing from American shores is Gourmet Chef Meals. This is a ‘pop up pantry’ gourmet frozen meal subscription service club for food lovers in the US.

The next trend to be focused on was ‘new diets’. This is centred around reflecting new dietary needs and aspirations through frozen food, as demographic and lifestyle changes combine with improved understanding of individual food needs. Examples of this include products which allow for easy experimentation in the kitchen, such as frozen wok vegetables in Chinese, Japanese and Thai mixtures, sold in Brazil.

Catering for increasingly hectic lifestyles

The next trend looked at in greater detail was the ‘anytime, anywhere’ experience. This involves creating portable frozen food solutions for increasingly hectic lifestyles, more fluid meal patterns and greater on-the-go consumption. Messaging around the fact that frozen foods preserve goodness and offer wholesome choices was also deemed an essential part of generating further sales within the frozen foods category.

‘Positively frozen’ was another trend examined within the presentation. This involves building stronger emotional bonds with the frozen category by promoting positive food values, such as an involvement with Fairtrade and other ethical initiatives. Showing that brands have ‘low-impact freezing’ and efficient resource use are further key considerations.

Another advantage that frozen food manufacturers should capitalise on is the fact that frozen options can offer perfect portion sizes and help minimise food waste; a factor which is particularly relevant for single-person households.

Rethinking the shopper journey

The presentation also examined how retailers can rethink their shoppers’ journey throughout the store. Specifically, it looked at finding ways to disrupt the typical shopper journey to frozen in-store and optimising its presence in different channels in order to increase its relevance to shoppers – as already done successfully in Scandinavian markets. As frozen food is typically found at the end of the customer journey, by the time shoppers reach it, it can be too late to fall into their consideration set.

"Retailers are re-orienting their categories and their stores to force people to shop the perimeter …What’s happening is consumers are walking in with a budget. By the time they get out of the perimeter, their budget is gone," said William R. Johnson, CEO, H.J Heinz, quoted in Packaging Digest in September 2012.

Enhancing the in-store experience

Enhancing the in-store aesthetics of frozen food will boost sales. Drawing shoppers to the frozen-food aisle by increasing its visual, sensory and aesthetic appeal and highlighting new products is a key opportunity for retailers.

Likewise, creating a sense of theatre in-store around frozen food is crucial in terms of making it feel more aspirational and breathing warmth into the category: in-store tastings, trials, demonstrations and even in-store consultants could deliver real excitement.

Share this post: