● Frozen is flat in value for the second year, behind competitive areas like fresh and chilled. Deflation hasn’t been as big a factor here compared with other macro categories.

● However, prices have fallen more for branded goods, by 1.8%, compared with own label, which has seen average prices rise by 0.8%. The proportion of sales going through the till on promotion is falling, driven in part by the reduction in multibuys.

● Packs are getting smaller, falling from 179g on average to 177g over the past two years, although this trend is not exclusive to frozen.

● Brands’ decline is partly driven by the discounters, whose own-label offerings are outperforming the market, but also by the differing fortunes of own label vs brands within the big four retailers.

● Own label is growing in all the big four, especially Morrisons, which has seen sales of own-label ranges rise 3.7%. Waitrose has seen significant sales from its new 1 range in frozen, particularly from ice cream.

● Birds Eye is still the biggest brand, despite losing 1.1% of its value, followed by McCain, which is up 0.3%, and Unilever Ice Cream (down 0.6%).

Adam Gilham/Kantar Worldpanel

TAKE HOME SHARE
Kantar Worldpane: 52 w/e 29 January 2017
TOTAL  VALUE VOLUME
  £m y-o-y% kgs (m) y-o-y%
Ice Cream  907.7 2.9 352.8 2.9
Fish 843.5 -0.5 131.3 -1.7
Potatoes 690.6 2.3 458.2 -1.3
Other Meats  603.3 -4.9 179.1 -0.6
Vegetables 501.4 -0.4 311.1 1.3
Ready Meals 469.1 -2.9 129.5 -5.3
Pizza 423.5 -1.0 112.5 0.4
Processed Poultry 404.1 -5.7 94.6 0.6
Desserts 288.6 12.6 72.1 7.1
Sav Bakery  285.3 -1.2 114.4 2.4
Veg Protein 127.4 5.6 24.6 5.7
Red Meat 118.2 0.1 26.0 0.0
Snacks 63.5 4.1 12.2 -6.9
Total Frozen      5,739.5 0.0      2,021.5 0.3
     
BRANDS VS OWN LABEL
Kantar Worldpane: 52 w/e 29 January 2017
  VALUE VOLUME
  £m y-o-y% kgs (m) y-o-y%
Branded      2,693.0 -1.7 800.3 -0.3
Own label      3,045.5 1.6      1,220.9 0.7
     
     RETAIL SHARE
Kantar Worldpane: 52 w/e 29 January 2017
  TRADING VALUE
retailers grocery Category index y-o-y%
Iceland 2.2 16.5 762.0 2.2
Aldi 5.3 5.9 111.3 6.5
Asda 13.2 13.1 99.0 -5.2
Lidl 4.0 3.8 96.2 2.3
Tesco 25.2 24.1 95.7 0.8
Morrisons 10.0 8.6 86.3 -1.4
Sainsbury's 14.2 11.8 83.2 -2.5
The Co-Operative 5.2 3.8 73.2 0.4
Waitrose 5.0 3.2 64.3 1.1
Marks & Spencer 3.5 0.9 25.6 -7.0
Frozen Bestsellers
FROZEN BESTSELLERS
IRI: 52 w/e 25 March 2017
Total Market VALUE VOLUME AVERAGE PRICE
£m y-o-y% kgs (m) y-o-y% £/kg y-o-y%
Birds Eye £450.8 -4.1                     109.6 0.5 4.11 -4.5
McCain £328.9 1.2                     155.0 0.0 2.12 1.2
Magnum £169.0 1.0                       24.5 -2.5 6.91 3.6
Youngs £161.8 -2.4                       25.1 -4.8 6.44 2.5
Aunt Bessies £142.5 -6.6                       50.7 -10.5 2.81 4.4
Chicago Town £110.8 -2.2                       24.9 -1.6 4.46 -0.6
Ben & Jerrys £94.3 -3.9                       15.6 -6.4 6.03 2.6
Quorn £74.8 6.3                       13.4 3.8 5.59 2.4
Goodfella's £67.7 1.9                       15.9 7.7 4.26 -5.3
Haagen Dasz £50.7 19.5                         8.4 21.9 6.02 -2.0

● Frozen food’s biggest spenders’ investment in traditional advertising space has dipped overall as spend continues to migrate to digital channels.

● That’s not to say conventional media is losing its relevance. Birds Eye, Chicago Town, Aunt Bessie’s and Young’s have all forked out more in the past year as they’ve sort to justify their freezer space.

● Big spending Birds Eye stumped up the most, enlisting Patsy Kensit to front TV ads for its peas and announcing the return of Captain Birds Eye in ads for its ‘Best Ever’ Cod Fillets.

● Young’s is focusing on its premium Gastro range in advertisements, featuring feline ambassador Malcolm the Cat.

Top 10 Advertisers in Frozen Food 2017
Frozen Food - 1st March 2016 - 28th February 2017
 
Media TOTAL   Cinema Outdoor Press Radio TV
Brands Spend (£) Y-O-Y % % % % %
               
Birds Eye 10.3 12.4% 20.1% 3.5% 0.6% 0.0% 75.9%
McCain 6.2 -33.4% 0.0% 31.3% 7.9% 0.0% 60.9%
Chicago Town 3.0 53.5% 0.0% 0.0% 0.4% 0.0% 99.6%
Aunt Bessie's 1.6 120.4% 0.0% 0.0% 7.0% 0.0% 93.0%
Young's 1.4 64.6% 0.0% 0.0% 1.6% 0.0% 98.4%
Dr. Oetker Ristorante 0.9 -73.8% 0.0% 0.0% 1.8% 0.0% 98.2%
Pukka Pies 0.8 1146.2% 0.0% 99.2% 0.8% 0.0% 0.0%
Goodfella's 0.7 -52.8% 0.0% 0.0% 0.5% 0.0% 99.5%
Slimming World 0.2 317.4% 0.0% 0.0% 100.0% 0.0% 0.0%
Men's Health Kitchen 0.1 - 0.0% 0.0% 100.0% 0.0% 0.0%
TOTAL (Top 10) 22.0 -10.4% 9.4% 10.5% 3.1% 0.0% 77.0%