Seven million Spaniards have already been conquered by the convenience menu of merchants, the ready-to-go food proposals from supermarkets that are consumed outside the home and that represent competition, still timid, for restaurants.
These are data from the consulting firm Kantar, which places the average purchase in these services at five acts per year on average and the challenge in finding more consumption occasions to encourage a more recurring purchase.
Prepared food is a trend linked to the convenience factor – the one that has grown the most in the last decade – and that has different lines of businessfrom dishes prepared to heat or finish at home to the “ready-to-go” food services on which the chains with the largest market share have opted.
Kantar reflects that in the total calculation the evolution of ready-to-go dishes has grown 25% since 2021although 87% of this increase is focused on consumption within the home and 13% outside, in those known as “mercaurants.”
Kantar expert Veronika Khurshudyanel has pointed out to Efeagro that it is a trend for which the pandemic was a shock, but, unlike others, it is maintained and its short-term perspective is “very positive”, especially for home consumption.
“Consuming outside the home is a little more challenging due to its density” of the offer, because “if I want a tortilla skewer, there are already them in the supermarkets but there is a bar on every corner,” he exemplified.
In his opinion, a fact that supports the promising future of these proposals is that in the last 10 years it has been reduced between about 15 and 20 minutes per day the time spent cooking.
Asked about the consumer profile, the expert associates it with a young one, up to 35 years, Although beyond age, ready-to-go is conquered in “attitudinal” terms, that is, of a practical consumer.
The merchants have a fundamentally urban visionalthough they obviously move depending on the offer and the commitment made by the leading companies in each region, the expert has pointed out.
A business of 1,850 million a year
Prepared dishes sold in Spanish supermarkets and hypermarkets coming from the industry and the fourth or fifth range proposals generate a business of 1,848 million euros per year, according to data from the consulting firm Circana.
Sources from this company have explained that, in addition, they are increasing “in response to a consumer who values everything that helps with daily obligations and frees up time,” since the industry is striving to innovate in versatile and easy-to-cook foods.
Thus, the volume sales of dishes prepared in this last year analyzed – from September 2024 to October 2023 – evolve more favorably than the average for mass consumption, with a 3% increase.
And among the favorite dishes, lasagna and prepared cannelloni stand out (+18%), potato omelettes (+12%) and refrigerated salads (+10.8%).
The data reflects, for example, that each year Spaniards spend 208 million euros in Spain on manufactured potato tortillas and 219 on “ambient” soups.
According to your data, only snacks and sandwiches, and empanadas/quiche and bageland gazpacho present negative results that according to the consultancy “probably reveal the search for fresher and healthier alternatives.”
Without forgetting the concern, Spaniards continue to approach the proposals of the food chain to eat well and easily, both inside and outside the home, with certain limits. increasingly diffuse between the different bets that fight for the same goal: to conquer the consumer’s palate.
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