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June 20th 2001 >> Source: Grocery
Retail Online Today's frozen food market is growing faster than ever, due to the lack of time to prepare Ïfrom-scratch" dinners. With jobs, car-pooling, and volunteering, something has had to give, and cooking has been it. Today's frozen food market offers an alternative to dining out, by offering quick-fix, nutritious dine-out options at home, and the menu selections include bakery products, dairy, desserts, fish, fruits, juices, meat, poultry, salads, sauces, soups, vegetables, and vegetarian selections. In addition to convenience, frozen foods offer ease-of-storage, portion control, year-round availability, consistency, and reduced waste. It certainly means existing stores have to rethink how much space is allocated to frozen foods; new construction has to consider placement within the store as well as the space allocation. The question, then, is what's to go in that frozen food space? Big news these days is even more products with Italian, Mexican and Asian flavors, and previously regional foods going national and international. It's not surprising when you consider the Latino population in the United States is expected to grow 96 percent by the year 2010, and the Asian-American population is expected to increase by 110 percent. Another factor is the amount of foreign travel Americans do, exposing them to a variety of cuisines. Tombstone Pizza introduced a Mexican-style pizza line using a tortilla-flavored crust, including a taco-seasoned sauce with sausage, mild Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses, diced tomatoes and green onions; a cheese Quesadilla with mild salsa sauce and a blend of four Mexican-style cheeses; chicken fajitas with fajita-seasoned sauce, chicken, Cheddar and Monterey Jack, red and green peppers, and onions; and nacho grande, with salsa sauce, taco-seasoned sausage, diced tomatoes, green onions, black olives and Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses. But the biggest news is the increasing popularity of items produced by smaller companies. With warehouse stores eagerly accepting new products from non-mega manufacturers, and being accepted by the consumer more traditional and other independent stores are slowly, but surely, welcoming new products. Some of the newest products come from Cape Cod Seafood Products. A few years ago Elizabeth Collins was chairman of her local board of health and one of the places she inspected was a Cape Cod fish market. They made to-go items to go with the fish and lobsters they sold. There were Ïlines out the door. Everyone loved the gourmet creations. Some of the specialties were fish cakes and salmon sweet potato cakes. A girlfriend of mine kept coming in to the store to try everything. The owner of the store was a guy who had been a fisherman and really knew about fish and cleanliness. My girlfriend is a food broker and she kept saying it was such a shame that people who were not from Cape Cod could not enjoy seafood they way we did." Collins became involved with the company and Cape Cod Seafood Products was born. ÏWe want people to have the finest products that are easy to make and delicious to just take home and stick in the oven for 15 minutes and enjoy," says Collins. Available so far at Stop and Shop, they've recently started shipping to Kings Super Markets in New Jersey. Elliott Herman, president of Heartland Buffalo, of Huntingdon Valley, PA, had been in the hot dog business for ten years and kept hearing people asking for low-fat burgers and hot dogs. ÏI've made low-fat hot dogs from everything you can imagine and they taste like everybody else's. It's the nature of beef, as it gets leaner, it loses its flavor. Chicken products have no bite to the meat. A friend in New York had a buffalo burger and suggested that might be the solution. The buffalo, or bison, is a low-fat product that doesn't taste like low-fat. It's a growing sector of the marketplace. The hot dogs are 93% lean and the burgers are 95%. We also produce a nitrite- and nitrate-free version that's sold in Whole Foods and Fresh Fields stores in Texas and some in south Florida." Amy's Kitchen, with its vegetarian selections is another example. The number one brand in natural and organic frozen foods, representing all of the top 10 and 19 of the top 20 selling items in the natural frozen entrees, pizzas and convenience food category. Included in the Amy's Kitchen line are enchiladas, pasta sauce, California burgers, vegetable lasagne, pocket sandwiches, stir-fries, vegetarian Salisbury steak with vegetables, macaroni and cheese, ravioli, tomale pie, shepherds' pie, pizza spinach, vegetable pot pies, cream of tomato soup, and apple pie, selling more than 50,000,000 items each year. Started in 1987 when their daughter Amy was born, Andy and Rachel Berliner of Santa Rosa, CA sought convenient, organic, vegetarian meals that tasted good and couldn't find them. So they started their own business. Its latest product is the Burrito Especial combining organic white rice, black beans, vegetables, cheese and a flavorful Spanish sauce. Prior to that, they'd introduced toaster pops, all dairy-free. Puttanesca pasta sauce includes the expected carrots, zucchini, green olives and tomato base, but throw s in capers, garlic and caramelized onions. The traveling consumer will sample foods from Amy's Kitchen when they fly Continental Airlines, which will be serving five of their products, with tray cards detailing the product and the company. Another brand reinforcement that's created cross-over customers is the Kahiki (Polynesian for Ïsail to Tahiti") line of frozen foods. Based on recipes from the former Columbus, OH restaurant (it opened in 1961, closed in August 2000, and plans include a new Columbus location by the end of 2002 with a possible extension into other markets), the Kahiki brand introduced a 27-ounce line of ÏMeals for 2" that are ready to serve in 12 minutes, including cashew chicken, sesame orange chicken, teriyaki chicken, and sweet and sour chicken. In the deli area, they've introduced chicken potstickers, with sauces, all based on recipes from this Columbus, OH restaurant. They join the line which includes vegetarian egg rolls, entrees, appetizers, and side dishes. None of them have MSG as an ingredient. According to Alan Hoover, vice president of marketing and sales, they started marketing their frozen foods line in 1995. The 80 products, from single-serving microwave meals to 16-pound cases of fried rice, are available in Sam's Club, Costco, Giant Eagle, Kroger, and institutions served by Sysco, Abbott Foods, Gordon Food Service, and other distributors. Judy Colbert is a Maryland-based journalist. + Visit Grocery Retail Online | << Back to 2001
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