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Ready Meals in The United Arab Emirates
Ready Meals in The United Arab Emirates
Emirates
Euromonitor International
November 2020
READY MEALS IN THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Passport i
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2020 IMPACT
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categories is that they offer convenience, which has remained relevant as many younger
consumers want easy to prepare meals, and these categories deliver in this regard. Also, the
innovations seen in these categories over the last couple of years helped to increase the growth
rate in 2020. For instance, brands have worked on the localisation of tastes to satisfy different
consumers through products such as frozen Shish Barak, Okra with Tomatoes, and Paneer and
Lamb Kabsa, all of which are becoming increasingly visible in the main hypermarkets. In
addition, several foodservice outlets, such as TGI Fridays and Little Bangkok, have launched
some of their most famous starters as frozen meals.
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Health trend set to lead prepared salads to see the highest growth
Prepared salads is expected to see the highest growth in ready meals in the forecast period,
picking up strong momentum from 2021 as consumers are increasingly interested in their
health. These products are likely to see particularly strong growth for lunches. Most of the
players within prepared salads are local, and given the logistical issues associated with the
basic need for freshness, this is expected to remain the case for years to come. Creativity in
terms of the range of products is on the rise as salads have gradually evolved from traditional
vegetable ingredients to include more pulses, seeds, premium vegetables and fruits, in addition
to a protein source. Growth in chilled ready meals is also set to bounce back from 2021, for the
same reason. Chilled ready meals are considered fresher and healthier than shelf stable ready
meals, for instance.
Nevertheless, frozen ready meals is also set to maintain strong growth in the forecast period,
due to recent product innovations and the convenience of having products which can be stored
for a long time already at home, rather than having to go shopping. Towards the end of the
review period the range of cuisines covered by chilled and frozen ready meals broadened to
include sushi, fettuccini, sweet and sour chicken, fish with sayadeih rice and Mexican chicken,
and more types of dishes are expected to be launched in the forecast period. The United Arab
Emirates has a wide diversity of expatriate workers, and therefore the product range is widening
to meet the needs of all these consumers.
New healthy but tasty product launches expected, including from private
label
Brands are continuously striving to achieve the right balance between product quality, portion
size, nutritional value and convenience in their product ranges. Key players in ready
meals, especially producers of prepared salads, and frozen and chilled ready meals, are
therefore expected to continue introducing new and improved products which do not
compromise on taste to meet the diverse consumer preferences in the country. Many
innovations are likely to be seen, for example manufacturers are set to introduce ready meals
with shorter heating times and more convenient packaging to meet the
consumer demand for greater convenience. Furthermore, players are predicted to enhance the
nutritional value in ready meals by adding fresh ingredients such as seeds, pulses and
vegetables to add flavour and taste to the existing offer of ready meals. For instance, retailers
such as Spinneys are trying to make healthy meal choices more readily available, and have
ventured into numerous product lines within ready meals with well-sealed hygienic packaging,
especially in areas where most of the residents are single and are not able to or do not want to
cook all their meals from scratch. It is expected that over the forecast period such private label
ready meals will see higher growth rates, given that they are sold at more affordable prices.
CATEGORY DATA
Table 1 Sales of Ready Meals by Category: Volume 2015-2020
tonnes
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
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AED million
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
% volume growth
2019/20 2015-20 CAGR 2015/20 Total
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Grocers
--- Other Grocery - - - - - -
Retailers
- Non-Grocery Specialists - - - - - 0.0
-- Health and Beauty - - - - - -
Specialist Retailers
-- Other Foods Non- - - - - - 0.0
Grocery Specialists
- Mixed Retailers - - - - - -
Non-Store Retailing 1.9 2.3 2.4 2.7 3.0 8.0
- Vending - - - - - -
- Homeshopping - - - - - -
- E-Commerce 1.9 2.3 2.4 2.7 3.0 8.0
- Direct Selling - - - - - -
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Source: Euromonitor International from official statistics, trade associations, trade press, company research,
store checks, trade interviews, trade sources
tonnes
2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Shelf Stable Ready Meals 49.0 50.1 51.2 52.0 52.8 53.4
Chilled Lunch Kits - - - - - -
Chilled Pizza - - - - - -
Chilled Ready Meals 272.6 277.5 282.9 289.2 295.7 303.6
Dinner Mixes - - - - - -
Dried Ready Meals - - - - - -
Frozen Pizza 1,084.5 1,115.6 1,151.7 1,187.2 1,227.4 1,263.9
Frozen Ready Meals 348.0 361.0 374.2 388.3 401.9 416.1
Prepared Salads 354.4 364.5 377.9 398.1 420.5 445.6
Ready Meals 2,108.5 2,168.7 2,237.9 2,314.9 2,398.3 2,482.5
Source: Euromonitor International from trade associations, trade press, company research, trade interviews,
trade sources
AED million
2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Shelf Stable Ready Meals 5.9 6.0 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5
Chilled Lunch Kits - - - - - -
Chilled Pizza - - - - - -
Chilled Ready Meals 7.3 7.5 7.7 7.9 8.1 8.4
Dinner Mixes - - - - - -
Dried Ready Meals - - - - - -
Frozen Pizza 31.6 32.6 33.3 34.5 35.5 36.6
Frozen Ready Meals 14.0 14.5 15.2 15.7 16.2 16.8
Prepared Salads 16.6 17.0 17.7 18.5 19.7 20.9
Ready Meals 75.3 77.6 79.9 82.9 86.0 89.1
Source: Euromonitor International from trade associations, trade press, company research, trade interviews,
trade sources
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% volume growth
2020/21 2020-25 CAGR 2020/25 Total
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