With convenience a top criterion driving consumer food choices, this new Packaged Facts report, The U.S. Market for Ready Meals and Side Dishes, offers a unique perspective on two hot categories: prepared fresh foods, and meal components. The prepared fresh foods category consists of completely prepared ready-to-eat/ready-to-heat fresh foods (such as prepared entrees and side dishes sold in supermarket delis, as well as deli-style packaged cold cuts). The meal components category encompasses fresh and frozen groceries such as seasoned ready-to-cook meats and poultry, and bagged salads.

Using a new data-intensive, compact format, The U.S. Market for Ready Meals and Side Dishes presents a pithy analysis of the market factors that continue to shape the market, including consumer trends, mergers and acquisitions, and new product developments. It also provides up-to-date competitive profiles of leading industry players (both marketers and retailers), plus a cutting-edge discussion of action points companies can utilize to benefit from the trends driving this market.

The U.S. Market for Convenience Food and Packaging, Volumes 1-3
The U.S. Market for Ready Meals and Side Dishes is the first of a three-part series on the convenience foods market, which also covers Frozen Meals and Appetizers/Snacks (Volume 2, March 2004) and Packaging and Serving Size Trends (Volume 2, April 2004). An Executive Overview of all three volumes will be available to purchasers of the three-volume set upon publication of the final volume, providing a cross-comparison of opportunities and competition in these inter-related sectors of the convenience foods market.

Report Methodology
The information in The U.S. Market for Ready Meals and Side Dishes is based on both primary and secondary research. Primary research involved on-site examination of the retail milieu, interviews with marketing, public relations and industry analysts within the convenience food market and consultants to the industry. Secondary research entailed data-gathering from relevant trade, business, and government sources, including company literature. Packaged Facts has derived mass merchandiser sales figures from Information Resources, Inc. (IRI) InfoScan sales-tracking data. Figures provided on national consumer advertising expenditures are based primarily on data (copyright 2002) compiled by TNS Media Intelligence/CMR, the leading provider of strategic advertising and marketing communications intelligence. The analysis of consumer demographics derives from Simmons Market Research Bureau survey data for spring 2003. New product information is gathered via literature research, personal interviews and data compiled by ProductScan, a service of Marketing Intelligence Service Ltd.

This report looks at every segment of the convenience food market, examining trends for growth and projecting sales of products through 2008. It analyzes consumer demographics and attitudes and their current and projected impact on sales of convenience foods. It provides up-to-date competitive profiles of marketers of these foods - including a look at smaller, up-and-coming companies - and discusses the influence of demographic trends as a driver of retail trends. The series also spotlights new products and current distribution trends, and offers readers trends and marketing opportunities within the convenience food industry.

What You’ll Get in this Report
Using a new data-intensive, compact format, The U.S. Market for Ready Meals and Side Dishes presents an incisive analysis of the market factors that continue to shape the market, including consumer trends, mergers and acquisitions, and new product developments. The three volumes also provide up-to-date competitive profiles of leading industry players, both marketers and retailers. New to the report is a cutting-edge discussion of action points companies can use to benefit from the trends driving this market.

Each volume in this series addresses the following segments:

• The Market (including market size and composition, and projected market growth)
• The Marketers (including share of market, where available)
• Competitive Profiles of major marketers
• Retail Strategies (including retail private label and deli foodservice)
• The Consumer (an analysis of current Simmons Market Research Bureau data profiling consumer demographics)
• Trends and Opportunities

You’ll also benefit from extensive data, presented in easy-to-read and practical charts, tables, and graphs.

Scroll to see a more detailed outline of the contents of this volume.

How You Will Benefit from this Report
If your company is already competing in the “ready meal” market, or is considering making the leap, you will find this series invaluable, as it provides a comprehensive package of information and insight not offered in any other single source. You will gain a thorough understanding of the current market for ready meals and meal components - fresh and frozen - as well as projected sales and trends through 2008. Contributing to that understanding will be a complete analysis of sales data from IRI and other published and trade sources, a detailed discussion of the consumer for ready meals based on Simmons data.

This report will help:

• Marketing Managers identify market opportunities and develop targeted promotion plans for fresh and frozen ready meals.
• Research and development professionals stay on top of competitor initiatives and explore demand for products in the ready meal arena.
• Advertising agencies working with clients in food industry understand the product buyer to develop messages and images that compel consumers to purchase these products.
• Business development executives understand the dynamics of the market and identify possible partnerships.
• Information and research center librarians provide market researchers, brand and product managers and other colleagues with the vital information they need to do their jobs more effectively.

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