Meals in mere minutes: convenience still key in prepared foods.(State of the Industry: PREPARED FOODS)(Industry overview)

Stagnito's New Products Magazine, September, 2006 by Dahm, Lori

Consumers are cooking less but still wanting to eat at home, which means the opportunities for prepared foods and ready-in-minutes meal products are exploding. From pizza to hand-held meals to prepared entrees to soups, all of the segments within this category experienced a boom in new products.

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The category benefited from the growing demand for convenience this past year, with new product introductions growing 18 percent and 1,520 new products introduced this year, a sharp increase from the 1,288 new products last year.

The health focus in the food world overall pervaded the prepared foods category, with healthier options being introduced in many different segments--from pizza to soups to frozen entree meals. Many of...

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