Ready Meal Market Flourishing in France
Despite Impact of Deepening Recession
By Mary Davis, QFFI Correspondent

“Nutritional Pleasure” is the selling point of this newly introduced Paella a l’Andalouse ready meal from Findus. The dish, which features chicken, shrimp, sausage and rice, can be stir-fried and served in 10 minutes.

Prepared foods outpace frozen food generally by about tenfold, and now account for nearly a third of retail sales. While Findus and Nestlé battle for brand leadership, innovative private label products continue to dominate the frozen ready meal cuisine scene.

Though the market in France, as elsewhere, is under pressure due to the worldwide economic recession, frozen prepared dishes are faring well.

The French have long been familiar with ready meals, and such products are regarded as good value for money, given the assortment of ingredients that a consumer would have to obtain and the time that he or she would have to spend cooking to duplicate them from scratch.

According to Datamonitor, sales of frozen food overall in France rose by 1.1% in value in 2008, but sales of prepared dishes and pizza increased in value some 11%. In 2007 sales of prepared dishes and pizza amounted to $829.4 million, accounting for 29.9% of the market’s overall value. In 2008 these sales advanced to $921.2 million, representing 32.2% of value.

In order to capitalize on the pluses inherent in prepared dishes, producers have released a tide of new items. Ready meals are often classified by the number of people each is designed to serve. Thus there are dishes for individuals, for couples, and for families. New items are appearing in all of the categories.

The emphasis tends to be on meals that can be quickly prepared. Steaming in a microwave and cooking in a frying pan are both popular. Healthfulness is a major drawing card, and figures prominently in the choice of ingredients and method of preparation, and in the publicity.

Findus, which in 1964 pioneered the frozen ready meals movement in France by launching Poisson à la Bordelaise, is working to increase the popularity of frozen meals among all three categories of consumers. For individuals it launched a new line in 2008, Généreuse (Copious), with each dish weighing 400 grams. Having received a positive response from consumers indicating that the dishes fill a need, the firm added two new recipes in March 2009: Paella au poulet, colin d’Alaska & chorizo (Paella with chicken, hake and chorizo [pork sausage]); and Chili Con Carne (with cooked beef, red beans and tacos). The suggested price for each is 3.90 euros a box.

This year Findus has also added Les Recettes de Cyril Lignac to an established line of dishes for individuals. Chef Lignac owns and operates his own restaurant in Paris. Entering into an arrangement with Findus in 2006, he has created several dishes for the frozen food specialist, the latest of which is Poulet à la Tapenade-Pennes et fine ratatouille (Chicken with tapenade [a spread made with olives], penne pasta and vegetable stew). The dish, which is 23% pasta and 25.5% chicken, is to be cooked for 20 minutes in a frying pan.

In the area of family dishes, Findus in March of 2009 began offering its four most popular family products in maxi-sachets of 1.4 kilograms each. The recipes, each of which has been reworked, are Riz Cantonnais; Poêlée Savoyarde, Poêlée Campagnarde; and Paella à l’Andalouse. The Poêlée Savoyarde is a mixture of fried potatoes, pieces of smoked pork, Swiss cheese and cheese for fondue, sprinkled with chives. The entire package can be heated for 30 minutes in an oven; half a package for seven minutes in a microwave or 10 minutes in a frying pan. The Paella is based on a traditional Spanish recipe with saffron-flavored rice, small vegetables, prawns, chicken and chorizo. The suggested retail price is 4.85 euros.

Nestlé has launched Chicken Tajine with zucchini and semolina under its Maggi brand’s Bon par Nature (Naturally Good) range. The North African dish is distributed in a 300-gram package, which serves one person.

Each Findus package bears the Curseur Nutrionnel (Nutritional Cursor), a bar with three, colored sections, left to right, Nutritional Pleasure, Classic Pleasure, and Gourmet Pleasure. A knife and fork inside a circle is printed at some point on the bar, and the location indicates the quality of the food from a nutritional standpoint. If the knife and fork are on Nutritional Pleasure, the dish is intended for a consumer who is being particularly careful about the nutritional value of what is eaten; if on Classic Pleasure, the product is for everyday use by the typical consumer; and if on Gourmet Pleasure, it is designed for occasional splurges.

Most of the new ready meals from Findus fall into the category of Classic Pleasure; but Filet de Colin d’Alaska à la Parisienne; Riz Cantonais, Paella à l’Andalouse, and Poulet à la Tapanade all belong to the category Nutritional Pleasure. Below the Nutritional Cursor are printed the actual number of grams of fat, sugar, etc. in the dish.

For couples Findus is concentrating on new dishes comprised of fish in sauce. In January 2009 it launched four new fish recipes, which it describes as both “gourmande” and “pratique.” They are all fillets of colin d’Alaska: à la Provençale, à la Parisienne, à l’Oseille (sorrel), and à la Marinière. Each is distributed in a 400-gram box, containing two individual trays for steaming; the fish can be prepared in a microwave oven, in a “bain Marie” (immersed in boiling water) or, after being removed from the tray, in a frying pan.

The fish is, in each case, certified by the Marine Stewardship Council as sustainably caught. Findus is adding to the new Respect des Ressources Marines line of sustainably-sourced products, three existing fish recipes for two people. Furthermore, in March it launched two additional recipes featuring Filet de Saumon rose du Pacifique – one with white butter and lemon, and the other featuring spinach and cream of sorrel fondue.

Findus already has an established line of meat gratins for two, comprised of seven recipes, to which it added two new meat dishes in September of 2008: Gratin à la Provencale and Lasagnes Carbonara. The Lasagnes Carbonara is 28% pasta, with pieces of smoked pork, cream and cheese. Preparation requires 40 minutes in a traditional oven or 13 minutes in a microwave oven.

Nestlé’s Maggi groups its plats cuisinés or ready meals into four categories: gratins, vegetable dishes, “poêlées” (meals to be cooked in a frying pan), and “plats complets” (complete meals). The company considers its cooked fish to be in a category separate from ready meals. Its 10 frying-pan meals include one new item, Tagliatelles à la Carbonara, weighing 900 grams. The ingredients are pre-cooked tagliatelles pasta (37%), water, pieces of ham (14%), whole eggs (five percent), cream (four percent), and various flavorings in which parsley predominates.

Like other frozen food brands, Maggi emphasizes nutritional quality. A statement printed against a background of green leaves on the back of the package reads: “Freshness preserved: thanks to our method of freezing, we preserve all the nutritional qualities of our ingredients.” Only seven minutes of heating in a frying pan is required for preparation. The price at an Auchan store was 5.25 euros.

The seven vegetable dishes include two new entries: stuffed tomatoes and stuffed eggplant. Each has a combination of the vegetable and ground meat on a bed of rice, the whole sprinkled with Swiss cheese. Again, the package emphasizes nutrition. “Rich in vegetables,” the front and back of the tomato box states. “Freshness and vitamins preserved: our tomatoes are picked at full maturity and frozen several hours after harvest.”

The contents can be prepared in 19 minutes by microwave zapping, or 55 minutes in a traditional oven. Maggi remarks that microwaving produces better results than the oven.

The complete meals are a new line of dishes for individuals, Bon par Nature (Naturally Good). Initially the line was composed of six 300-gram items. The emphasis, as the name suggests, is on naturalness and healthfulness, combined with convenience and tastiness. In red letters on the front of the box, it is stated that the recipe within was prepared according to a “process exclusive to Maggi.” The box pictures the cooked meal, and beside it, a few of the raw ingredients.

The recipes have numerous ingredients. “Tajine de Poulet aux courgettes & semoule” (Chicken Tajine with zucchini and semolina), a North African stew, is composed of slivers of chicken cooked for a long time in a sauce flavored with mild spices and with vegetables (carrots, zucchini, yellow onions, tomatoes) and raisins, and is accompanied by semolina flavored with leaves of coriander. The semolina and the stew are cooked in separate trays – either in a microwave for six minutes, or in boiling water for 12 minutes.

This Hisséo! Gratin of small scallops, hake and penne pasta from Marie comes in a family-size kilogram package that requires19 minutes of microwave preparation, or 40 minutes in a conventional oven.

The other recipes include “Porc au Curry riz basmati au raisin” and “Mijoté de boeuf aux olives, purée de pommes de terre.” The Tajine de Poulet cost 4.30 euros at Carrefour.

Maggi is advertising the line Bon par Nature in a television spot that shows a young couple before and during dinner. The man has brought home a package of Bon par Nature. The woman compliments him on the find and they enjoy dinner together. Users of the Internet can print a coupon entitling them to one euro off the purchase of a package of the product.

The prepared fish that in some companies would be considered a ready meal comes in three lines: fish in sauce, fish gratin, and papillote-style (cooked in paper envelopes). For the last, Maggi has two new items: Colin d’Alaska façon papillote courgette piston (Hake in papillote style with zucchini) and Lieu noir façon papillote legumes du jardin (Coalfish in papillote style with garden vegetables). They are packaged two to a box, and need to be microwaved for five minutes before serving.

On the nutrition front, Maggi is publicizing the fact that it is committed to a rigorous and controlled program that rests on three characteristics: quality, nutrition and respect for the environment. This will be put into place gradually, and by 2010 all Maggi ready meals will be on board. The conditions that they will meet include using no coloring, artificial flavors or preservatives – only 100% natural ingredients. The Bureau Veritas is seeing to it that Maggi carries out the plan.

According to Datamonitor, Nestlé is narrowing the difference between itself and Findus in terms of share of the French frozen food market as a whole. In 2007, the research firm states, Findus had 9.6% of the market and Nestlé 8.3%; and in 2008 Findus had 9.2% and Nestlé nine percent. In this market Nestlé is represented by Buitoni as well as by Maggi.

Marie, which sells both chilled and frozen products, offers in frozen form prepared dishes for families distributed in polybags with portionable contents, as well as in boxes. It also offers two lines of individual dishes and, for two people, a range of fish in sauce.

The most recent introductions are to the line of meals for families in bags. In early 2009 it rolled out three new recipes: Filet mignon de porc à la moutarde à Rigatoni (with mustard and rigatoni pasta); Gambas aux épices douces and Stortelli tomates cerises (Mediterranean Prawns with mild spices and stortelli pasta with cherry tomatoes); and Noix de St. Jacques aux citrons confits, penne (Scallops with candied lemon and penne pasta). Each is designed to serve three people and is to be cooked in a pan on the top of the stove for 12 to 14 minutes. A grey band up the front side of the bag, on which the name of the product and key facts about it are written, distinguishes the new recipes from older offerings in the line.
Marie does not report any new boxed dishes sized for families on its website, but a box of Hisséo!

Gratin de petites St. Jacques, Colin d’Alaska et penne (Gratin of small scallops, hake and penne pasta), available at an Auchan store recently, was labeled “Nouveau.” The dish – which is 36.5% pasta, 10% scallops, five percent hake, and five percent spinach – serves four people and cost 5.01 euros.

Marie’s packages have a little note in red script, beginning “Marie aime” and decorated with a heart in the bottom right hand corner of the package. The note on the Hisséo says: “Marie aime adoucir son gratin par une fondue d’épinards” (Marie loves to make its gratin milder with a spinach fondue). A similarly “hand-written” message on the back of the package states: “Marie loves to cook without artifices, without too much fat or salt, just for the pleasure of the flavor . . . In brief, Marie likes the same cooking as you!”

The personal note on the packages, as though Marie were a woman instead of a brand name, runs through Marie’s publicity on the Web. The “i” in “Marie” is always dotted by a heart, and the table of nutritional information has a heart in a pastel color at the beginning of each line.

Although QFFI has not recently spotted any Marie dishes for individuals bearing the word “nouveau,” the packaging and contents of the seven dishes available is innovative. Four of the items are to be steamed in a microwave oven, as indicated by a blue circle containing white text on the front of each: “la Cuisine Vapeur.”

Farfalle au Poulet & Pesto (Farfalle with chicken and pesto) is an example. Marie “loves to brighten its farfalle with preserved tomatoes,” the note says, and indeed the contents are 10% tomatoes. The product sells for 3.75 euros.

Weight Watchers frozen food packaging in France has a new look, as seen in this Prix Léger (Low Priced) Tagliatelles Bolognaise offering. The single-serve dish retails for approximately three euros.

Picard, France’s leading freezer center retail chain, offers this Tajine-style chicken, vegetables and stewed apricot dish under its + d’Équilibre range of private label ready meals.

Three items for individuals, packaged in boxes, are labeled “instant grill” rather than “steam.” They include a Brochette de Gambas, penne au pesto rouge, flan de courgettes (Mediterranean prawns on a stick, penne with red pesto, and custard with zucchini), weighing 300 grams. The prawns are literally on a skewer. Heating takes eight minutes in a microwave oven.

Another instant grill offering is Filets of Rouget (mullet), with crushed potatoes and a stew in the style of Provence.

In early 2009, Marie became the first producer of ready meals to sign the “Charte d’Engagement Volontaire du Progrès Nutritionnel” with the French Department of Health. The agreement, which is within the National Nutrition and Health Program, recognizes Marie’s progress in increasing the nutritional value of its food since 2005, and its pledge to continue to reduce the quantity of trans fatty acids in products, to continue to increase the amount of fiber in its pasta, and to continue to reduce the level of salt (by 22% on average between 2005 and 2010) in pizza, ready meals, tarts and quiches.

In the past decade the fortunes of Marie underwent a gradual decline followed by a significant resurgence. In frozen foods, it sank from a 20% market share in 2001 to less than a nine percent share in 2006.

A new general director, Giampaolo Schiratti, was hired in 2006 to turn the company around. He did just that, and Schiratti has pointed out that in 2008 Marie was the only company that increased its market share in frozen foods (to 10.4%, up from 10.3% in 2007).

For several years Marie had a relatively low profile in French supermarkets and hypermarkets. Today it is prominent in the frozen food aisles of virtually every store. Combined turnover for frozen and chilled products in 2008 reached 265 million euros.

A question as to its future has arisen, however. The English group Uniq, which owns Marie, has put it on the market.

Early in 2009 Weight Watchers reorganized and repackaged its frozen meals line, which since 1990 has been produced by Heinz. Aiming to appeal not only to people desiring to lose weight, but also to those wanting to eat balanced meals, it now has two lines: “Recettes Gourmet” (Gourmet Recipes), with meals weighing 350 to 380 grams, and “Prix Léger” (Low Priced), with meals weighing 300 grams. The latter are intended for people on weight-loss programs.

One of the three new recipes in the Recette Gourmet category is Saumon aux légumes du soleil sauce basilic. It features pieces of Atlantic salmon accompanied by shell pasta, grilled cubes of zucchini and eggplant, plus strips of red and yellow pepper accented with basil-flavored sauce. The dinner, which costs about four euros, is packaged in a lidded tray that allows it to be steamed in a microwave oven.
The other new recipes, both in the Prix Léger line, are Tagliatelles Bolognaise and Poulet sauce Aigre Douce et Riz. The rice dish contains chicken strips coated in sweet-and-sour sauce and accompanied by green pepper slices and pineapple.

The new Weight Watchers packaging features rounded lettering and shapes. The dominant area is a curved patch of orange for gourmet or purple for “Prix Léger,” bearing the name of the product.
As is becoming usual on French frozen food packaging, the label includes loads of information about nutritional content. Conspicuous on the front are the number of calories, the level of fat, salt and sugar, given as a percentage of the dish, and the percentage of each of the daily nutritional benchmarks (Repères Nutritionnels journaliers) present. The back includes a tip on maintaining one’s shape or losing weight, and a suggested menu that includes the dish.