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Below are brief excerpts from a complimentary research note written by our Consumer Staples analysts Howard Penney and Daniel Biolsi. If you are an institutional investor interested in accessing our research email sales@hedgeye.com |
Grocery spending remains elevated, led by frozen food (CAG)
Grocery channel demand remained elevated for the week ended May 31. The following chart illustrates total grocery store sales, edible categories, and the frozen category indexed to pre-COVID levels, as reported by IRI.
Overall edible demand growth remained elevated but decelerated for the fourth consecutive week from 130 for the week ended May 3 to 121 in the last week. The frozen category, benefiting from the trends of more food preparation and more interest in freshness and wellness, has outperformed the rest of the grocery store.
Frozen and refrigerated foods are roughly 40% of Conagra’s sales.
Frozen Food Leads To Edible Grocery Category Growth (NOMD)
Frozen food has been healthy across many countries during the pandemic. According to IRI, the point of sales growth for the four weeks ended May 17 across all of the tracked countries was strongest in frozen foods.
Frozen foods are driven by several trends, including more meal preparation, wellness, freshness, and longer shelf life.
Edible categories were generally consistent across countries, while non-edibles were varied. Packaged foods, alcohol, and dairy were also healthy across all the countries except for Greece, as seen in the following table.
Nomad Foods, as the leading frozen food manufacturer in Western Europe, is well-positioned to benefit from the shift in meal consumption.
