In the new year, current realities and trends are making frozen proteins more attractive and practical for all foodservice segments. The industry accounted for the largest share of the frozen food market in 2020, which can be attributed in large part to the QSR segment’s dominance, ubiquity, and constant pursuit of efficiency, according to Research and Markets.¹ What’s more, U.S. demand across the frozen foods category is expected to grow 2.4% annually through 2024.² 

Within the frozen category, poultry will continue to perform well for three important reasons. 

Versatility matters

As restaurants’ dine-in prospects continue to fluctuate, carryout and delivery will continue to pick up the slack across all segments—an operational workaround to which customers have become quite accustomed. The proliferation in 2020 of ghost and virtual kitchen startups focused exclusively on delivery and pickup signals that convenient service from non-QSR operators is becoming the norm rather than the exception. 

In some ways, this need for speed has made restaurants bastions of minimalism, where only the best, versatile dishes make it to the menu. Indeed, streamlined menus is one of several trends included in Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants’ 2021 Culinary & Cocktail Trend Forecast.³ Among other things, operators are looking to minimize food waste, resulting in tighter and smaller menus.⁴ The pared-down ingredients to work harder across a variety of menu items and help against product shrink. In this case, purchasing frozen poultry makes smart operational sense: Chicken and turkey fit well across all dayparts, menu offerings, and flavor profiles, allowing operators to do more with fewer ingredients. 

Supply chain disruptions force workarounds

Just over half (51%) of operators surveyed by the Global Cold Chain Alliance ranked supply chain disruptions as a top challenge they’re facing, making it the No. 1 overall concern in the current business climate.⁵ Fluctuations in restaurant dine-in service around the nation also forced operators to purchase ingredients less frequently and rely instead on frozen foods, which have a longer shelf life and lead to significantly less food waste. 

In a November 2020 earnings call, Charlie Morrison, chairman and CEO of Dallas-based Wingstop, surmised that ghost kitchens and smaller operations that menu chicken wings have turned to frozen chicken to stabilize their supply chain and reduce waste. “We use fresh—rarely frozen—wings,” he said, adding that the chain turns to frozen poultry “only during certain cyclical times of the year.” 

He acknowledged, however, that the price of chicken wings has increased because “many of these new and/or emerging competitors … are buying up all the frozen product that’s in the market.”⁶ 

Food safety surpasses everything else

Consumers have become wary of anything hand-crafted: In fact, interest in handmade production claims has declined nearly 36% over the last 12 months, FSR magazine reports.⁷ 

Today, consumers are seeking assurances that what they consume was produced in safe, sanitized environments. Operators who may use “fresh, never frozen (poultry)” and other claims to communicate that a dish was “made just for you” should pivot toward descriptors such as “contactless” to highlight the cleanliness of the environment in which it was made. 

Rest assured, consumers will notice. Those surveyed for Datassential’s ONE TABLE initiative indicated that safety matters more to them than sustainability, visiting a favorite restaurant, getting healthy items, and even affordability.⁸ 

All these shifts in consumer sentiment put frozen proteins in the best position to ease consumer concerns about food safety. In fact, frozen poultry—with its temperature safeguards, contactless production, and long shelf life—assures diners in ways few other ingredients can. Simply put: Frozen makes good operational sense. 

Content courtesy of Perdue Foodservice 

Sources: 

¹“The Global Frozen Food Market Is Projected to Grow at a CAGR of 5.0%, to Reach USD 312.3 Billion by 2025 – ResearchAndMarkets.com,” Sept. 9, 2020 

²“US Frozen Food Sales to See Longer-Term Growth After Slight Dip in 2020,” Sept. 24, 2020 

³2021 Culinary & Cocktail Trend Forecast (Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, Nov. 11, 2020) 

⁴Klein, Danny, “Goodbye ‘New Normal.’ These Restaurant Trends Will Change Everything (Again),” FSR, November 2020 

⁵Costa, Michael, “The 2020 State of the Industry Report: COVID-19 and the Cold Chain,” Refrigerated & Frozen Foods, July 7, 2020 

⁶“Restaurant industry predictions: What 2021 will bring in terms of food, drinks, fine-dining and more in the wake of COVID,” Restaurant Hospitality, Dec. 10, 2020 

⁷Moskow, Liz, “10 Food Trends for 2021 Already on Restaurants’ Minds,” FSR, November 2020 

⁸ONE TABLE: Consumer Insights and the Path Forward (Datassential, May 2020)