The market for frozen products - Germany

1.1 Scope of the study

Deep freezing is a process that quickly lowers the temperature of a still fresh and healthy food to -18 °C core temperature. Freezing, a similar but less efficient process, provides less rapid cooling.

There are several techniques for flash freezing a product:

• Contact freezing, which is suitable for foods with a small thickness (e.g., fish fillets), is performed by placing a food product between two plates in which a liquid is circulated at a temperature of -35°C.
• In convection freezing, which is more suitable for small products such as vegetables, the products are placed in tunnels where very cold air (-35 °C) circulates at a very high speed.
• The immersion method, suitable for irregularly shaped products, in which the food is immersed in a very low temperature liquid such as liquid nitrogen.
• Individual freezing or IQF ( Individually Quick Frozen) is where the food is immersed in a liquid gas. This method is more expensive and is better suited for fragile products.

These complex industrial techniques require that the core temperature of the products is always kept below -18 °C, which presents retailers with a real technical challenge.

This study of frozen products will focus on the different market segments, business-to-business and business-to-consumer, and the different forms they can take (e.g., home delivery). The manufacturing processes or the products themselves will also be covered.

Globally, the market is forecast to grow at a compound annual revenue growth rate(CAGR) of 1.42% between 2023 and 2026 [Globenewswire].

In 2020, the development of this market took a particular turn. Indeed, the Covid 19 pandemic boosted sales of frozen foods, with sales in Germany increasing by 5.6% [Deutsches Tiefkühlinstitut].