Growing consumer interest and demand for convenience options when making their meals has propelled the market opportunity for ready-to-eat dinner meals. The global ready-to-eat dinner meal market is expected to rise from USD 14.692 million in 2023 to USD 25,184.3 million in 2033, at an annual growth of six percent between this period.
Consumer behaviour has changed, increasing read-to-eat food at an increased rate due to these alterations in social and economic consumer patterns. This is underpinned by increased expenditure on food and beverage, increased awareness about nutritious foods, changes in dietary practices and existing food habits, and a desire to try new products.
Where eating at home, with an avoidance of eating out, used to be the norm, the last two decades have introduced significant lifestyle changes which have directly impacted these habits. Consumers have gravitated towards ready-to-eat dinner options due to the increased number of women working, urbanisation, and a more hectic work schedule.
Ready-to-eat options have also evolved to satisfy consumer interest in being more adventurous with their cuisine choices. Many are attracted to trying meals from other ethnicities, such as Indian, Thai, and Italian, in addition to traditional cuisine.
Frozen dinners accounted for nearly one-third of sales of ready-to-eat food in 2019, the popularity of which has only increased. Frozen foods have a long shelf life, and consumers’ desire to remove and reduce the uncertainty has become popular, making this category one of the fastest growing within the ready-to-eat meal market.
In 2022, supermarkets and hypermarkets accounted for 42.3 percent of the dinner ready-to-eat food market of the easy accessibility and wide range of brands available, in conjunction with supermarkets' ability to price frozen foods at an affordable rate to appeal to a broader consumer interest.
Online delivery and distribution of ready-to-eat meals are expected to increase at an annual growth of 6.6 percent between 2023 and 2033. The increase can be mainly attributed to supermarkets' expansion into online delivery systems.
Efficiency for consumers and manufacturers is essential for ready-to-eat meals and their environmental impact. Therefore technological innovation has become a driving factor within the industry for solutions to match these consumer demands.
The food and beverage sector is embracing three-dimensional food printing, which is expected to become an effective manufacturing method in the coming years.
Research suggests that three-dimensional printed meat can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 90 percent while using only one percent of the land, four percent of the water, and 45 percent of the energy. As a result of these trends, the dinner ready-to-eat food market is expected to grow.
In addition, consumer concerns about processed meals have driven the ready-to-eat market to create minimally processed meals with a significant shelf life and a high flavour quality. High-Pressure Processing (HPP) technology could impact the market as it is a non-thermal preservation solution for ready-to-eat meals.
The ready-to-eat market continues to increase in popularity as consumer interest in convenience, health-based, environmentally conscious options has grown due to changing social and economic implications and food consumption behaviour in recent years.
