UK frozen food sales skyrocket in face of coronavirus

he sales of frozen peas and fish fingers have surged in a surge panic-buying spree, the latest figures from the British Frozen Food Federation (BFFF) has revealed.

Some retailers have detailed as much as a 48% increase for fish fingers and an astounding 68% increase in the sales of frozen peas, with sales data showing British shoppers spent as much as an extra £130 million (€150 million) on various foodstuffs throughout March.

The increase has been linked to the closure of schools, as children swap school meals for lunches at home.

With no news on when the schools will reopen, it is impossible to tell whether or not this trend will continue in the coming months.

The BFFF revealed that total sales of frozen food increased by a volume of 28.3% and 28.1% in value compared to the same four-week interval last year. This comes to a staggering total of £6.4 billion (€7.36 billion) worth of frozen food in the twelve months between March 2019 to March 2020.

Meanwhile, data company Kantar revealed that every category of frozen food saw a spike in sales over the same four-week period, with frozen vegetables clocking in at a 42% increase, frozen meat and poultry coming in a close second with a 34.8% increase in volume and frozen savoury food up 36.7%. Ice cream and frozen confectionery sales saw a significantly smaller increase of 5.4% and 7.4% respectively.

Similarly, visits to the BFFF’s consumer website increased by 45,725 throughout April – amounting to a 320% increase when compared to April 2019.

Richard Harrow, the chief executive of the BFFF, said: “Our research with individual retailers has revealed they are all experiencing a surge in frozen sales. Some have reported sales of pizza up 50% and sales of frozen broccoli up 93%.

The recent warm weather has also seen one supermarket chain’s sales of ice cream increase by 50%. Supply remains in good shape, although supply chains are at full stretch. Various actions, such as simplified ranging, have been introduced to help ensure the industry can keep products on sale as demand continues to remain high.”

Harrow said these figures were in stark contrast to what is happening in other industries, such as hospitality and catering where many of its members have seen orders disappear overnight. As a result, the BFFF has attempted to rally the government in support for hotels, restaurants, pubs and catering companies to be shared with the wholesalers and manufacturers that supply them.

His statements have been backed up by Kantar, whose newest data reveals that frozen food is both up in sales in terms of volume – 1.7% - and volume, up by 1.3%.

Pizza has sold particularly well, with Kantar showing a 7.9% increase in value and a 10% increase in volume, with frozen veg straddling in second with 3.7% and 5.1% retrospectively, and potato products coming in third with an increase of 5.7% and 3.4% respectively.

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