Frozen and Fruit & Veg Global Market Report 2021: COVID-19 Impact and Recovery to 2030

Executive Summary

Major companies in the frozen and fruit and vegetables market include Dole; Ardo NV; HJ Heinz; Simplot and General Mills.

The global frozen and fruit & veg market is expected to grow from $407.07 billion in 2020 to $440.6 billion in 2021 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.2%. The growth is mainly due to the companies rearranging their operations and recovering from the COVID-19 impact, which had earlier led to restrictive containment measures involving social distancing, remote working, and the closure of commercial activities that resulted in operational challenges. The market is expected to reach $585.25 billion in 2025 at a CAGR of 7%.

The frozen and fruit and vegetables market consists of sales of frozen and canned fruit and vegetables by entities (organizations, sole traders and partnerships) that produce frozen and canned fruit and vegetables. This market does not include unprocessed fruit and vegetables which are part of the agricultural market. The companies in the industry package and distribute their products through various distribution channels to both individual customers and commercial establishments. The frozen and fruit and vegetables market is segmented into frozen food and canned and ambient food.

Asia Pacific was the largest region in the global frozen and fruit & veg market, accounting for 32% of the market in 2020. North America was the second largest region accounting for 28% of the global frozen and fruit & veg market. Africa was the smallest region in the global frozen and fruit & veg market.

Frozen food manufacturers are using technologies such as individual quick freezing (IQF) to improve yield and quality of frozen foods. The IQF method involves transferring the individual food items on a conveyor belt into a blast freezer that quickly freezes the items. With IQF method, every individual piece of food is frozen separately, as opposed to bulk or block freezing. This method boosts yield by 1.5-3% and results in better quality products with high nutritional value and less wastage. Examples of IQF foods include fruits such as blueberries, strawberries and peaches, and vegetables such as corn, peas and green beans. The global IQF vegetable market is expected to reach $2 billion by 2026, thus indicating significant demand for IQF food products in future.

The outbreak of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has acted as a massive restraint on the frozen and fruit & veg market in 2020 as supply chains were disrupted due to trade restrictions and consumption declined due to lockdowns imposed by governments globally. COVID 19 is an infectious disease with flu-like symptoms including fever, cough, and difficulty in breathing. The virus was first identified in 2019 in Wuhan, Hubei province of the People’s Republic of China and spread globally including Western Europe, North America and Asia. Food and beverage manufacturers depend on supply of raw materials from domestic and international suppliers. As many governments restricted the movement of goods across countries and locally, manufacturers had to halt production due to lack of raw materials. Also, restrictions on trade of non-essential goods and fear of contamination through manufacturing facilities contributed to the decline. The outbreak is expected to continue to have a negative impact on businesses throughout 2020 and into 2021. However, it is expected that the frozen and fruit & veg market will recover from the shock across the forecast period as it is a 'black swan' event and not related to ongoing or fundamental weaknesses in the market or the global economy

The increasing demand for local, sustainable and organic food production is expected to positively impact the frozen and fruit & veg market during the forecast period. Organic food production including organic frozen and fruit & veg market places a strong emphasis on consumer health, environmental protection and animal welfare. Consumers now are becoming more concerned with how food is raised and prepared and are willing to pay a little more for something they recognize as healthy. Across Europe, there is a very high import rate (especially for fruits and vegetables) as the rate of production is far lower than the consumption demands for organic produce. For instance, according to the Soil Association, sales of organic products in the UK increased by 4.5% in 2019 to reach £2.45 billion. Similarly, sales of organic in the US increased by 5.9% to reach $47.9 billion wherein the sales of organic dried beans, along with dried fruits and vegetables increased by 9%, according to the 2019 Organic Industry Survey. This growing demand for organic products offers considerable opportunities for frozen and fruit & veg market producers in both developed and developing countries, thus likely to drive the market during the forecast period.

• Dole
• Ardo NV
• HJ Heinz
• Simplot
• General Mills

Methodology