Despite slimming falling out of fashion, the value of the low-calorie frozen meal market has increased by 5.6% to £112.5m. 

This has been helped by an 11.3% rise in penetration, which has seen new shoppers contribute over £11m. 

Shoppers have also been buying pricier. Average price per pack has increased 5.5% to £1.92, as brands and retailers pull back on promos and deals.

Brands are still dominant in the market, accounting for over four-fifths of spend. But retailers are catching up fast, with an 85.7% increase in value and 72.7% increase in volume.

This increase has been driven by the launch of a number of own label ranges over this period, most notably Aldi's Slim Well (which started out as Slim Free). The range has brought in £9m and established Aldi's 128% overtrade in the market. A number of new products have also launched within these ranges. The most successful has been Aldi's 'Slim Well' Chicken Chow Mein, bringing in £1.2m. 

Asda Slimzone is close behind Aldi with 18% of share of own label. Morrisons' Eat Smart Counted range has seen 138% growth in terms of value, gaining £3.3m in sales. Tesco Healthy Living has witnessed growth of nearly 79%. 

However, a number of retailers also have discontinued ranges, including Tesco, Waitrose and Asda. One of the most significant examples has been Asda's Good & Balanced line. 

Keen to fight their drop in value, brands are experimenting with new recipes. SlimFast launched its Advanced Vitality portfolio of meal replacement powders and ready-to-drink shakes after a £1m investment in its research & development programme identified consumers wanted products "with added ingredients" such as protein and fibre. 

The Goodlife, Quorn, Slimming World, SlimFast and WW (WeightWatchers) brands have also brought out new products. The most successful of these are Slimming World's Chinese Banquet Rice, which brought in £3.2m, and its Beef Lasagne, which racked up £6.2m.