Led by BFFF chair Nigel Broadhurst, a number of factors are said to have contributed to such growth, including: consumer confidence; product innovation and convenience; and its new marketing campaign ‘Fresh from the Freezer’.
Broadhurst said: “While consumer confidence has seen a knock in the light of Brexit negotiations, with spending reined in, the frozen food market has remained the most buoyant part of the grocery sector.
“We have seen 5% market growth in the last 12 months, putting frozen foods ahead of both chilled and ambient. We are also the best performing retail category online and are seeing mirrored success in foodservice.
“We put these successes down to our innovation, a move into premium quality products and the convenience of our everyday products which save food waste every day.
“The frozen food industry is offering highly relevant products to consumers’ kitchens, delivering solutions to problems whether in the home or the restaurant kitchen and this is being recognised”.
He also announced that BFFF chief executive, John Hyman, will be attending monthly meetings with government to ensure that members’ ‘key issues and opportunities are expressed and understood’.
This is part of its ‘improved’ monthly information service for members, which will also see the federation launch its ‘Brexit legal helpline’ due to the uncertainty around the outcome.
He concluded: “Today though, we should rightly celebrate a year of significant growth and progress for our industry, as we look forward to achieving our industry growth figure of £10bn”.