A Frosty Reception

National Frozen Food Month is blowing in with a blizzard of merchandising opportunities this March, as manufacturers introduce scores of innovative products and put some marketing muscle behind existing powerhouses.

The theme of this year’s promotion is “It’s Real Food… Just Frozen!” says Julie Henderson, vice president of communications at the National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Association (NFRA), the Harrisburg, Pa.-based trade association that coordinates the event.

“Sponsoring brands will run digital coupons on coupons.com,” Henderson says. “An integrated media partnership with Westwood One will deliver the frozen food message across radio, email, online and through social media. NFRA’s panel of food bloggers will engage their audiences with creative messaging. Frozen Food Month and sponsoring brands will be promoted throughout NFRA’s consumer-facing Easy Home Meals social media platforms, and a $10,000 Sweepstakes and four-week freezer giveaway, courtesy of Hussmann, will engage consumers online,” she says.  

The Schwan Food Co., based in Bloomington, Minn., has conducted research to uncover new insights into the current state of the frozen-foods aisle and to understand consumers’ attitude and behavior regarding frozen foods. “Our research revealed that consumers have a complicated relationship with frozen foods,” says Diane Harper, vice president, consumer insights and analytics at Schwan’s Shared Services, a division of The Schwan Food Co. “It provides shortcuts when consumers are busy living their lives, but while they appreciate the convenience of frozen foods, some view it as a compromise to healthier alternatives. They perceive fresh as being healthier.”

A broader selection can help shatter that misconception, manufacturers say.

“It’s critical that retailers have category assortments that more completely meets the different and relevant health needs of shoppers, including natural, gluten-free and organic, but also other brands that bring ‘homemade’ qualities and ingredients to the frozen dinner at both the premium and value end,” says Nicolas Martinez, director, shopper insights at Conagra Brands, based in Chicago.   

Conagra is also working to help retailers maximize their frozen aisles.

“Our work, which leverages a robust portfolio of analytics—including proprietary shopper data and extensive store audits—will help retailers understand their dollar opportunity, as well as show what they need to do, which categories to expand or reduce and what the best category flow and category adjacencies should be,” says Jeff Mayrose, senior director category leadership at Conagra. 

Harper suggests manufacturers and retailers work together to tout that frozen foods are healthy.

“Manufacturers can call attention to health, taste and quality benefits of frozen products, while retailers can make the frozen food aisle shopping experience more exciting and relevant,” she says.

That is exactly what officials at Revolution Foods are doing with their new Breakfast Hero line of frozen pancake batter made with all-natural ingredients, including real milk and eggs. Best known as a supplier of nutritious school meals, Breakfast Hero marks the company’s first foray into the frozen food aisle.

“We are made with the ingredients that you would mix together if you were making pancakes from scratch at home,” says Kirsten Saenz Tobey, chief impact officer and co-founder of Revolution Foods, based in Oakland, Calif.

Available in Original, Multigrain and Chocolate Multigrain varieties, Breakfast Hero is packaged in a pint gable-topped milk-carton style container with a screw cap. Merchandised frozen, it can be thawed out by consumers overnight in the refrigerator and once opened has a 10-day refrigerator shelf life; a carton makes 16 pancakes.

“Because it is a small pint container, you can fit three facings of Breakfast Hero in the space of one frozen waffle or pancake box,” Saenz Tobey notes. 

In March, Old Orchard Brands is dedicating its website homepage to its frozen juice business. It is offering various consumer promotions to motivate consumers to purchase its frozen juices, and will participate in retailer-specific programs as well. 

“New for 2017, Old Orchard’s launching two new frozen 100 percent juice blends, including Black Cherry Cranberry 100% Frozen Juice Blend and Strawberry Rhubarb 100% Frozen Juice Blend,” says Colleen Griffin, marketing coordinator for Old Orchard Brands, based in Sparta, Mich. “With both black cherry and strawberry rhubarb being on-trend flavor items, especially in other beverage segments, we are hoping to add interest to the category.”

It is part of the company’s effort to revitalize the frozen juice category. “Flavor trends are constantly changing,” Griffin says. “In order to keep the frozen category relevant to today’s consumers, Old Orchard tries to stay one foot ahead to attract different markets: Millennials, mothers, families, etc.”

Retailers need to make sure they have the right products, assortment and pricing structure to make shopping the frozen food aisle as easy as possible, says Ann Ryberg, category manager at Schwan’s Consumer Brands, the manufacturer of Red Baron pizza, among others. “Consumers spend an average of 44 seconds in the frozen aisle, so it needs to be organized in a way where they can clearly see pizza brands, toppings and crust type,” she says. “Retailers should think about how to present frozen pizzas as part of meal solutions and highlight the different forms they can come in by cross-promoting with other relevant products.”

Schwan’s has reformulated its Pagoda Asian line with a simplified label of clean ingredients. “Now all Pagoda snacks contain no preservatives, certified artificial food colors, high fructose corn syrup or MSG,” says Jessie Joslin, director desserts and Asian-style snacks at Schwan. “Our Potstickers now contain 60 percent less sodium, a new Lime Ponzu sauce, and a reformulated dough optimized for an authentic steamed experience from the microwave.”

Ruiz Food Products, manufacturer of the El Monterey brand, is heating up the Mexican category with several new products including El Monterey Signature Empanadas in Beef, Mozzarella and Monterey Jack Cheese with Mild Jalapenos, and White Meat Chicken with Cheddar and Mozzarella Cheese varieties. 

“Consumers continue to look for new textures, flavors and tastes,” says Rachel P. Cullen, president and CEO of Ruiz Food Products, based in Dinuba, Calif. “Empanadas are a perfect snack and/or appetizer—great for dipping in salsa, guacamole or sour cream.”

Ruiz has also introduced El Monterey Bigger! Bolder! Taquitos in Chicken and Monterey Jack Cheese, and Beef, Cheddar and Monterey Jack Cheese flavors.

“Our Bigger! Bolder! Taquito is hearty enough for a quick meal or mid-day snack, with a crunchy texture loved by kids and parents,” Cullen says. “More than two and a half times the size of regular taquitos, El Monterey Bigger! Bolder! Taquitos are inspired by the top-selling, nationally distributed, c-store/roller grill item in the U.S.… our Tornados.”

Conagra has expanded its Healthy Choice Simply Café Steamers line to include Unwrapped Burrito Bowl, Sweet & Spicy Asian-Style Noodle Bowl, Three Cheese Tortellini, and Creamy Spinach & Tomato Linguini. 

“People’s food preferences are continually changing, so we maintain a constant dialogue with the people who eat our food to ensure we’re providing even more options that satisfy these needs,” says Alan Brooks, associate brand manager at Conagra. “One thing we heard from core Healthy Choice eaters is a desire to consume more organic foods. Our four new recipes, all with 270 calories or less, are a reflection of current food trends,” he says.

One of the healthiest foods out there is seafood, and officials at Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) have been promoting their COOK IT FROZEN! promotion to promote the sale of frozen seafood items, which are generally merchandised adjacent to the fresh seafood department. “Today’s time-strapped consumers are hungry for quick, convenient and healthy solutions for a delicious dinner,” says Linda Driscoll, retail marketing manager in ASMI’s Seattle office.

“That’s where the COOK IT FROZEN! program and Alaska seafood should be top of mind. Frozen Alaska seafood is the perfect pantry staple, providing 100-percent fresh flavor and portion-control convenience for your customers, and less shrink and lower labor costs than fresh or refreshed product for you,” she says.