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.

New data from research firm IRI (Information Resources Inc.) and BCG (Boston Consulting Group) shows frozen and refrigerated food sales spiking 78.8% and 57.8%, respectively, compared to a year ago, and attributed to COVID-19-related stockpiling by consumers beginning on March 1. The numbers are through the week ending March 15.

The National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Convention brings together top companies from every segment of the refrigerated and frozen foods industry to connect, network, share and learn.