After a boom in frozen food at the beginning of the corona pandemic, hunger fell last year. In 2020, consumers bought frozen products 20.8 times a year, and in 2022 they bought frozen products 19.5 times, according to a statement from the food company iglo. Almost every Austrian household buys frozen products, and the trend is rising: the buyer reach was 95.9 percent in 2022, and thus higher than in the pre-Corona year 2019 (92.3 percent).
According to its own statements, iglo sold 92,442 tons of frozen goods, exclusive pizza, ice cream and cakes in 2022. While it was 89,641 tons in 2019, the volume of frozen products sold increased noticeably in 2020 (104,922 tons) and 2021 (100,125 tons).
“The years 2020 and 2021 were exceptional years for the frozen food industry. Due to the closed gastronomy, home office and home schooling, the entire category has grown extremely, because people cooked more and used more frozen components such as natural fish and natural vegetables,” says the managing director of iglo Austria, Markus Fahrnberger-Swiss.
Of the products sold in 2022, vegetables accounted for almost a third (28,007 tons) and natural vegetables for 15,017 tons. In contrast to natural vegetables, vegetables are already processed and contain spices, for example. Potatoes accounted for regarding a quarter (23,663 tons) of frozen foods sold in 2022, up a tenth (10.4 percentage points) compared to 2019. The year-on-year comparison is lower for vegetables (-2 percentage points) and natural vegetables (2.8 percentage points).
It also sold 18,168 tons of frozen meals, up 0.2 percentage points from 2019. On the other hand, fish and seafood, of which 12,242 tons were sold last year, lost 2.1 percentage points compared to 2019.
March 6th is “Frozen Food Day”. 93 years ago, in 1930, the first frozen products were offered for sale in US supermarkets on this day.
