The German frozen food industry posted positive figures again in 2014, as per capita consumption of frozens increased by 600 grams to 42.2 kilograms (vs. 41.6 in 2013). Consumption per household also rose slightly, going from 84.5 kilograms in 2013 to 85.2 kilograms in 2014. However, due to the increasing number of households in the nation, the uptick was more moderate than in the previous year.
Sales value amounted to EUR 12.79 billion – up 3% compared with EUR 12.42 billion in 2013, according to figures gathering in a survey conducted by KPMG in cooperation with the Deutsches Tiefkühlinstitut (DTI) trade association. Quantitatively, producers of frozen foods logged a 1.5% growth rate, as volume reached 3.416 million tons, compared with 3.367 million tons in 2013.
Foodservice Gains, Retail Weakens
Sales in away from home foodservice, catering and institutional markets (AHM) spearheaded the advance, as volume increased 4.3% to 1.676 million tons (vs. 1.608 million tons in 2013) . This segment’s share of the overall frozen food market increased to 49.1%, as revenues rose from EUR 5.205 billion to EUR 5.553 billion.
Sales in grocery stores, supermarkets and other retail outlets fell 1.1% from 1.759 million tons in 2013 to 1.739 million last year. Turnover, however, edged up 0.3% to EUR 7.237 billion.
The strongest AHM product performance was in the pizza category (+18.5% to 20,607 tons), followed by vegetables (+9.3% to 210,523 tons) and baked goods (+7.3% to 541,547 tons). Baked goods by far rank as the largest segment in quantity terms, followed by meat at just under 254,000 tons.
