One of the permanent problems of the frozen food markets for the manufacturer is persuading people to browse. Put simply, it isn't appealing for a shopper to spend much time hanging round chilly freezer cabinets, so it is often very difficult to make consumers aware of new products. It has generally been a sector with loads of promotions and bogofs but little growth, innovation, interest or brands to drive things forward. In addition, the rise in popularity and prevalence of chilled foods has had a largely negative impact on the category as a whole. However, the Birds Eye Wall's fish range has grown impressively and its fish fingers remain the dominant force in the category. Young's is quickly improving its status, particularly with its prawns and battered fish range, and the £5m it is investing in promoting the brand and bringing out new products should give a good kick to what has been a stagnant seafood category. While the majority of ready meal brands have remained static in terms of sales or declined, there has been one notable exception in RVP's Oriental Express brand. This new range of Chinese snack meals has grown by more than £13m and been the driving force in one of the few flourishing frozen sectors. It has succeeded in bringing new consumers to the fixture through innovation, NPD and marketing. Frozen ready meals have grown 4.7% making it the fastest growing frozen food sector. Over the years, the frozen pizza market has become more and more dynamic, with innovations and variations appearing on a regular basis. Just over a year ago, McCain introduced microwaveable pizzas to the market in the shape of McCain Micro Pizza. Their success (sales in excess of £12m) has been another example of the need for time saving in the kitchen. The Goodfellas brand goes from strength to strength, with Full & Crispy Pizza Pies the most recent addition to the range. Chicago Town pizzas and indeed pizza pies continue to sell well, although it is another Schwan's product which has captured the imagination of the public in 2000. Freschetta is one of several "rising" pizzas that do exactly that when baked in the oven. This is another facet to the frozen pizza market, in which consumers are seeking out a more traditional taste and format. Potato based products have suffered a decline in overall value sales while volume sales have been growing, suggesting a decrease in average price. This would indicate that the category has been another affected by EDLP, which is not surprising as it is such a staple product. McCain dominates with Home Fries jacket oven chips, leaving its standard oven chips lagging behind. As with Micro Pizza, Micro Chips retain appeal for their speed of preparation, while an ever-increasing range of other McCain potato products are catering for all tastes. Stringfellows, Smiles, wedges and hash browns are all growing but the success story of 2000 has come in more traditional shape. Aunt Bessie's frozen roast potatoes have taken the market by storm and it now seems unbelievable the concept wasn't capitalised on previously. Having already cornered the frozen Yorkshire puddings sector, Aunt Bessie's roast potatoes have done the same for this area and with sales of £9.4m for the year, look set to dominate for some time to come. {{MARKETING }}