Is Social Media Influencing Our Thoughts On Frozen Food?

Frozen Food Is Heating Up

Frozen food, long dubbed as unsatisfying and loaded with preservatives, is no longer getting the cold shoulder. When frozen produce offers greater benefits over non-frozen food, especially when it comes to nutritional value and flavour, it’s no surprise that we are seeing a surge in the market. 

According to the market research firm, Nielsen, the volume of frozen food has surged with millennial households reportedly being responsible for spending 9% more on frozen foods per trip.  With research showing a current growth pocket in frozen products, millennials look to frozen for convenient meal solutions to suit their busy schedules, but are they educated enough on the nutritional value of frozen foods? In fact, a recent study by Birds Eye found that 36% of 18-24 year olds believe that frozen fruit and veg contains fewer nutrients than fresh. 

Source: Birds Eye Myth busters study 2018

 

Millennials Don’t Believe In The Power of Frozen

In an era where millennials are obsessed with organic and whole foods, there is a fight for frozen to overcome its perception of being processed and unhealthy and rival fresh produce in quality and nutrients. 
There are many studies to date that have proven the health benefits of frozen verses fresh, so why are millennials judgements on frozen food associated with lower nutritional value? 
From the recent Birds Eye Frozen Food study, research suggests that because of the types of food consumers are buying, they instantly associate it as unhealthy. In fact, the study concluded that 37% of 18-24 year olds purchase ‘treat’ foods such as ice cream and lollies each week. It’s therefore no surprise their perception of frozen is inherently unhealthy and that the rise of frozen sales is due to convenience over health benefits. 

Is Social Media Distorting Our Reality? 

One of the most common influences on food choices has come from social media. Globally, more than 2.8 billion people use social media with 88% of 18 to 29 year-olds driving the most social media consumption (source). 

Social media is now more than ever driving the decisions behind consumer food choices, especially within the healthy eating space and Instagram certainly takes the top spot for quickly becoming a destination for food obsession trends. Take the most notable ‘clean eating’ trend, smoothie bowls, (essentially smoothies overloaded with fresh fruit). This trend saw a rapid increase with over 1.5 million posts on Instagram. In fact even a quick search on Instagram shows just how popular fresh food is with 2.1 million posts for versus frozen food, which only has 400 thousand. 

With such a high number of beautifully crafted photos of fresh food, you could argue that Instagram is distorting our perception by showing that fresh is the only option to gain all the nutrients we need. As millennials are the largest audience tuning into social media for food inspiration, it’s no surprise they are more and more frequently associating a balanced diet with fresh food and neglecting frozen. Could this be the reason behind why they are less educated around the health benefits of frozen food versus the older generation who are less likely to be exposed to social media? 

Give Frozen a Chance

Frozen food often gets the raw deal for being less nutritious than fresh, but the truth is some of the healthiest foods in the supermarket are in the freezer aisle. To prove our point, we have rounded up the top myth-busting reasons for stacking up your freezer.  

Less Waste and More Money

Did you know every year a whopping 18 million tonnes of food ends up in UK landfill (source)? Choosing to purchase frozen food instead of letting fresh go to waste, not only saves money but also can really help to limit this problem and in time lead to a reduction in food waste. Photo by influencer lecoindemel