Editor-in-Chief Michael Costa explains how the perception of frozen foods changed in 2020.

Nearly one year after the COVID-19 pandemic began, a new report finds frozen foods were among the fastest growing categories in the grocery store, with clear signs that Americans’ fondness for frozen will continue to grow.

Nestlé announced it has acquired Freshly, one of the leading fresh-prepared meal delivery services in the U.S. The deal values Freshly at $950 million, with potential earnouts up to $550 million contingent to the successful growth of the business. This transaction was signed and closed on October 30, 2020. Founded in 2015, Freshly delivers a menu of fresh, chef-cooked meals to customers across the country, breaking down the barriers to healthy eating by delivering nutrition and convenience at scale.

Cadence Kitchen, the Southern California food-tech innovator using liquid nitrogen to modernize frozen cuisine, announces the expansion of its range of natural, preservative-free and globally-inspired menu items at more than 200 retail partner locations in the United States. With 11 new dishes that cook from frozen to chef-made perfection in as little as seven minutes, Cadence Kitchen is prepared to meet growing consumer desire for higher quality, convenience and international variety in-home cooking during a post-COVID reality. 

No Evil Foods, makers of small-batch plant-based meat, is announcing their partnership with rePurpose Global, a movement of conscious consumers and businesses, to offset their plastic footprint. The brand has committed to going plastic negative by funding the recovery and recycling of two pounds of plastic waste for every one pound they generate. In doing so, they will become the first plant-based meat company to take a plastic-negative stance.

Conagra Brands, one of North America's leading food companies, is celebrating the summer with the debut of more than two dozen new products. More people are cooking and eating at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Birds Eye, Marie Callender's, Healthy Choice and Snack Pack are among the brands bringing new items to market to satisfy evolving consumer needs. 

Saffron Road, a clean-label, world cuisine leader on a mission to bring people together through authentic, global flavors and wholesome, real ingredients, announces the addition of two new restaurant-quality frozen entrées to their Thai cuisine product line. 

“What does the next normal look like, and when does it become the new normal?” A quote that applies to nearly everything right now, but in this instance, it’s referring to marketing frozen and refrigerated foods. On this week’s From the Cold Corner Podcast, I talk with Jeff Rumachik, EVP and COO of the National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Association (NFRA) about promoting cold foods to consumers amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Frozen food sales rose significantly the final week of April, according to new research by the American Frozen Food Institute (AFFI), 210 Analytics, and IRI. The +50.3% increase was the highest since the height of mid-March stockpiling by consumers, when frozen food sales peaked at +94.4% compared to 2019 sales for the same time period. The +50.3% increase translates to $1.3 billion compared to $442 million in 2019.

Congratulations to the five refrigerated and/or frozen food companies that topped our eighth annual, 2020 Best New Retail Products Contest. We had one of our highest vote totals ever (61,243), and an exciting flurry of activity the final three days which re-configured the order of winners.