● A recent development in chilled ready meal cuisine has been Thai food (+20% year on year). As Thai restaurants such as Busaba report increasing customer numbers and rising sales, it appears take-home grocery trends are following out-of-home choices. Waitrose is the fastest-growing retailer in this sector, with M&S and Tesco also posting 30+% growth.

● American ready meals continue to perform well, with brands in healthy growth but own label leading the way. All the big four bar Asda have grown their ranges compared with last year, but now the discounters are beginning to get in on the act.

● Aldi and Lidl continue their rapid growth and are beginning to make up their undertrade. There is still enormous headroom for growth, though – if Aldi chilled ready meals grew to match its grocery share, this would be worth £39m. For Lidl, it’s £30m.

● Discounter development will continue to be the most prominent theme in chilled ready meals from a retailer perspective. If Aldi and Lidl want to achieve fair share of the category, they should pay close attention to out-of-home trends and proven success stories in the larger retailers. Rivals will be wary of their combined £69m undertrade. Further success may well grow the category incrementally, but it is likely that the big four could lose out.