Focus On Cooking Sauces & Meal Kits: 25 February

By Daniel Selwood Daniel.Selwood@wrbm.com 

Publishing: 25 February 2023
Advertising deadline: 10 February 2023
Submissions deadline: 6 February 2023

Analysts expects cooking sauces & meal kits to go off the boil in coming years, thanks to a combination of a rise in scratch cooking, growing pressure on household budgets and demographic changes. But opportunities remain. With some responding to the energy crisis by finding cheaper ways to cook, is there an opportunity for more slow-cooker and microwave cooking sauces, for example? Pasta remains one of the most cost-effective meals there is, so can pasta sauce players cash in? And what opportunities are there for suppliers to offer ‘quick cheats’ for scratch cooks?

Demographics: This feature will weigh up how changes to the make-up of the UK population and the way we live our lives (for example, more hybrid working, the use of leftovers, the decline in eating out, etc) are affecting this market. What opportunities do these changes present?

Premiumisation: With fewer people dining out as the cost-of-living crisis bites, what opportunities are there for retailers and their suppliers to cater for the so-called ‘big night in’ occasion with premium, indulgent offerings? Who’s doing this best?

Own label and the retail mix: How are different retailers approaching the category in terms of branded and own label ranging, merchandising, promotions and the like? Which retailers are in strongest growth and decline? Why? And how is the brand/own label mix changing?

Price and cost pressures: How are retail prices changing as the cost-of-living crisis eats into household budgets and rising costs squeeze margins? What are retailers and suppliers doing to mitigate these pressures?

Innovations: We will profile 4 new products or ranges that have ideally not appeared in The Grocer before. We need launch date, rsp, and a hi-res picture of each.