Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Ready Meals in Canada
Ready Meals in Canada
Euromonitor International
November 2020
READY MEALS IN CANADA Passport i
© Euromonitor International
READY MEALS IN CANADA Passport 1
2020 IMPACT
© Euromonitor International
READY MEALS IN CANADA Passport 2
they feel hungry. Moreover, there is an increasing focus on healthy snacks, with health-
consciousness even greater since the arrival of COVID-19. Despite disruptions in 2020, this has
proven positive for sales of ready meals, with categories such as chilled pizza, frozen pizza and
prepared salads aligned well with the prevailing background demand trends. At a time of
widespread layoffs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a London, Ontario pizza-making factory was
looking to expand its workforce earlier in 2020.
Moreover, the increasing interest of consumers in ready meals had, pre-pandemic, resulted in
more active marketing activity in the category. In prepared salads, for instance, the numbers of
new products being launched are growing rapidly, with new participants in the category
emerging to offer a wider range of products. One particularly notable key focus area in 2018 and
2019 was the proliferation of organic prepared salad, with the category benefiting from its
combination of convenience and health & wellness.
Nestlé leads sales thanks to strong lead in popular frozen ready meals
category
Nestlé Canada is maintaining its strong lead in ready meals in 2020 due to the enduring
popularity of its Stouffer’s brand in frozen ready meals. Stouffer’s has long been the most
popular ready meals brand in Canada and has gained many consumers’ trust for its consistently
high quality, which is even more important amid the pandemic as consumers rationalise their
choice of brand in a context of falling purchasing power. Other major players in the relatively
fragmented category of ready meals in 2020 include Dr Oetker Canada, Bellisio Foods Canada
Corp and Kraft Heinz Canada, each of which is strong in either frozen pizza or frozen ready
meals.
Frozen ready meals and frozen pizza remain very popular in Canada as they are seen as
more natural and healthier than dried ready meals and shelf stable ready meals and Kraft Heinz
has been leading efforts to maintain consumer interest in the frozen segment. Towards the end
of the review period, the international player launched its Crave brand, which offers a range of
premium frozen ready meals that respond to emerging consumer demand. However, overall all
of the leading players in frozen ready meals face serious challenges as the interest of
consumers increasingly shifts to products with a healthier image in prepared salads and chilled
ready meals, categories in which niche players are thriving.
© Euromonitor International
READY MEALS IN CANADA Passport 3
chicken, meats seasoned and shrink-wrapped, ready to go onto the grill. Tree of Life, which
oversees international brands such as Thai Kitchen, Kikkoman and Sharwood’s, has highlighted
that it is often foodservice trends that dictate what consumers might want to see on retail
shelves. The company emphasises that paying attention to food culture trends is key, as when
certain flavours gain traction it increases consumers’ desire to replicate their foodservice
experiences at home.
Dinner mixes to lead sales growth again but profitability may remain an
issue
While its volume growth will decelerate from that seen in 2020 and other recent years, dinner
mixes is set to register a further strong performance over the forecast period. However, it should
be noted that dinner mixes is increasingly becoming a two-speed category. In addition to the
traditional offerings that have long dominated sales in the category, there is now an emerging
segment that is both substantial and dynamic and consists of two separate products: home
replacement meal programmes; and subscription-based meal kits. The former products are
generally sold through regular store-based retail channels, mainly modern grocery retailers, and
are experiencing moderate growth. The latter meanwhile are sold largely through online
channels and sales are expanding rapidly from a low base, with their prospects boosted
dramatically since the advent of COVID-19.
However, despite the explosive growth registered in the category, many of the businesses
that offer meal kits are facing increasing challenges in terms of maintaining a significant base of
subscribers and ensuring that their operations remain profitable. As such, it increasingly seems
that entering into partnership with chained store-based grocery retailers is essential to success
in the category, with mergers and acquisitions activity thus likely to be seen during the forecast
period.
Shelf stable and dried ready meals unlikely to maintain good 2020
performance
Having recorded unexpected high sales growth from consumer stockpiling in 2020 thanks to
their product longevity, shelf stable ready meals and dried ready meals are predicted to decline
consistently over the forecast period, mainly due to the unfashionable image that each of these
categories has developed in recent years. Chief among the reasons for the image problems that
these categories are experiencing is rising health-consciousness, elevated further by the
pandemic, which will discourage many consumers from purchasing products that are seen as
high in artificial ingredients, notably preservatives and colourings.
Moreover, both dried ready meals and shelf stable ready meals suffer from a lack of genuine
innovation, with few major changes seen for a long time, contributing to weak demand. Major
players have been responding to emerging consumer demand trends by removing artificial
ingredients from their products, with Kraft Heinz leading the way with its No, No, No KD brand.
However, growth prospects remain low, to say the least, with it being more likely that chilled
ready meals will be purchased more often on account of their fresh nature and for containing
ingredients better aligned with health trends.
CATEGORY DATA
Table 1 Sales of Ready Meals by Category: Volume 2015-2020
'000 tonnes
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
© Euromonitor International
READY MEALS IN CANADA Passport 4
Shelf Stable Ready Meals 40.5 39.7 38.8 37.8 36.9 41.8
Chilled Lunch Kits 2.9 2.9 2.9 2.9 2.9 2.8
Chilled Pizza 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 7.9
Chilled Ready Meals 8.3 8.5 8.7 8.9 9.1 8.5
Dinner Mixes 14.1 15.5 20.7 26.8 36.6 54.0
Dried Ready Meals 31.2 31.1 31.0 30.5 29.8 33.3
Frozen Pizza 87.1 85.1 83.0 81.7 80.1 92.4
Frozen Ready Meals 198.7 196.3 196.7 198.1 200.8 227.3
Prepared Salads 62.7 64.9 67.3 70.2 73.5 70.2
Ready Meals 453.4 451.9 457.3 465.1 478.2 538.3
Source: Euromonitor International from official statistics, trade associations, trade press, company research,
store checks, trade interviews, trade sources
CAD million
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Shelf Stable Ready Meals 149.4 146.6 142.6 137.9 135.3 152.4
Chilled Lunch Kits 84.1 85.5 87.0 88.3 90.0 86.5
Chilled Pizza 105.4 108.6 111.3 114.4 118.4 113.6
Chilled Ready Meals 145.8 153.3 161.1 169.4 177.8 172.4
Dinner Mixes 214.7 242.5 330.1 435.4 606.6 918.2
Dried Ready Meals 351.3 352.3 349.9 344.9 339.4 382.7
Frozen Pizza 876.8 853.2 827.7 808.8 799.0 924.4
Frozen Ready Meals 2,601.2 2,597.3 2,627.0 2,679.8 2,771.6 3,186.9
Prepared Salads 864.5 912.7 964.5 1,027.1 1,100.1 1,044.3
Ready Meals 5,393.2 5,452.0 5,601.1 5,806.0 6,138.1 6,981.3
Source: Euromonitor International from official statistics, trade associations, trade press, company research,
store checks, trade interviews, trade sources
% volume growth
2019/20 2015-20 CAGR 2015/20 Total
© Euromonitor International
READY MEALS IN CANADA Passport 5
© Euromonitor International
READY MEALS IN CANADA Passport 6
© Euromonitor International
READY MEALS IN CANADA Passport 7
Dole (Dole Food Co Dole Packaged Foods Co, 2.2 2.2 2.3 1.9
Inc) The
Fresh Express Chiquita Brands LLC 2.1 2.1 2.2 1.8
(Chiquita Brands
International Inc)
Hamburger Helper General Mills Canada Corp 2.0 2.0 1.9 1.7
(General Mills Inc)
HelloFresh HelloFresh Canada Inc 0.6 0.8 1.2 1.7
(HelloFresh SE)
Schneider (Maple Schneider Corp 1.8 1.7 1.6 1.6
Leaf Foods Inc)
Healthy Choice ConAgra Foods Canada Inc 1.4 1.3 1.3 1.3
Steamers (ConAgra
Brands Inc)
No Name (Private Loblaw Cos Ltd 1.4 1.4 1.3 1.3
Label)
Earthbound Farm Earthbound Farm - - 1.4 1.2
(Taylor Fresh Foods
Inc)
Old El Paso General Mills Canada Corp 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.1
(General Mills Inc)
Compliments Sobeys Inc 1.2 1.1 1.1 1.1
(Private Label)
Irresistibles Metro Inc 1.1 1.1 1.0 1.0
(Private Label)
Knorr (Unilever Unilever Canada Inc 1.0 0.9 0.8 0.8
Group)
VH Steamers ConAgra Foods Canada Inc 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8
(ConAgra Brands Inc)
Heinz (Kraft Heinz Kraft Heinz Canada ULC 0.9 0.8 0.8 0.8
Co)
River Ranch Taylor Fresh Foods Inc 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.8
Marketplace Cuisine Nestlé Canada Inc 0.5 0.7 0.8 0.8
(Nestlé SA)
Uncle Ben's (Mars Mars Canada Inc 0.7 0.7 0.6 0.6
Inc)
Chef Boyardee ConAgra Foods Canada Inc 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.6
(ConAgra Brands Inc)
Pillsbury (General General Mills Canada Corp 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.4
Mills Inc)
Earthbound Farm Earthbound Farm 1.3 1.4 - -
(Danone, Groupe)
Swanson (Pinnacle Pinnacle Foods Canada 2.7 - - -
Foods Inc) Corp
Chef's Plate Chef's Plate Inc 0.9 - - -
Other Private Label Other Private Label 8.8 8.8 8.6 7.7
(Private Label)
Others Others 26.1 25.6 24.9 23.3
Total Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Source: Euromonitor International from official statistics, trade associations, trade press, company research,
store checks, trade interviews, trade sources
© Euromonitor International
READY MEALS IN CANADA Passport 8
'000 tonnes
2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Shelf Stable Ready Meals 41.8 39.6 38.4 37.8 37.3 36.9
Chilled Lunch Kits 2.8 2.9 2.8 2.8 2.9 2.9
Chilled Pizza 7.9 8.3 8.2 8.1 8.1 8.2
Chilled Ready Meals 8.5 8.8 8.8 8.9 9.0 9.3
Dinner Mixes 54.0 57.2 61.8 69.2 76.1 83.3
Dried Ready Meals 33.3 30.4 29.4 28.7 28.2 27.9
Frozen Pizza 92.4 85.8 83.8 82.0 80.5 79.1
Frozen Ready Meals 227.3 211.6 210.1 210.5 213.1 216.7
Prepared Salads 70.2 75.2 78.6 81.7 84.7 87.6
Ready Meals 538.3 519.9 521.9 529.8 539.8 551.7
Source: Euromonitor International from trade associations, trade press, company research, trade interviews,
trade sources
CAD million
2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Shelf Stable Ready Meals 152.4 141.5 134.6 130.3 126.8 123.7
Chilled Lunch Kits 86.5 89.1 87.5 87.2 88.1 89.6
Chilled Pizza 113.6 120.4 118.5 118.5 120.2 123.1
Chilled Ready Meals 172.4 180.9 180.2 184.6 190.5 196.8
© Euromonitor International
READY MEALS IN CANADA Passport 9
% volume growth
2020/21 2020-25 CAGR 2020/25 Total
© Euromonitor International