'Britons buying more frozen food than ever'

Britons are buying more frozen food than ever before, says a recent study, claiming that the pandemic has irrevocably changed the UK's eating and shopping habits.

Sale of Frozen foods- that surged during the onset of pandemic- continues to be high in recent months, suggesting that convenience store owners should stock the products well as shoppers are now increasingly buying frozen foods.

As per a recent study by research conducted by Birds Eye, almost half of British families are more likely to buy frozen food now compared to pre-pandemic times. Convenience (50 per cent), avoiding unnecessary supermarket trips (46 per cent) and cutting down on food waste (44 per cent) were cited as the main reasons for the increased sale of frozen foods.

Parents with young children (aged 6-10) are leading the charge in the frozen food boom with one in three believing that frozens can be as healthy as its fresh counterparts. In fact, fish fingers, which is among the UK’s top three frozen foods after ice cream and chips, are found to be especially popular with kids. About 42 per cent of respondents claim fish finger was their children's first experience of tasting fish.

The shift towards frozen food may turn out to be a time and money saver act as well since the study also claimed that about 76 per cent of respondents said they were saving up to £90 a month buying frozen food while almost half said buying frozen food saved them up to six hours that otherwise go in preparing and cooking food each month.

Lauren Woodley, Nutritionist at Birds Eye, said that although it’s great to see that a large majority of families understand the benefits associated with frozen food, there still seems to be confusion about the health effects of freezing certain foods.

“Frozen fish is just as nutritious as its fresh counterpart, and still contains the essential vitamins and minerals for both adults and children due to the freezing process which preserves these,” Woodley said.

“Around 72 per cent of parents are choosing frozen options to put on their children’s plates at dinner time which is great to see and can have so many benefits including convenience and a reduction in food waste,” she said.