But why are these new products important? Americans are accustomed to eating more meals at home during COVID-19. Now that people are returning to their schools and offices, they are looking for easier food options than ever before. These frozen products with titles such as "Defrost and Eat" or "Defrost and Cypress" can be prepared in two hours or less, and even microwaves are not necessary to prepare them. The latest offerings concern adults who grew up with products such as Uncrustables, pre-produced sandwiches containing delicious meats and cheeses, andEGGO, a frozen waffle brand owned by Kig. Nestlé is also trying to promote the term smeals, which refers to small meals or nutritious snacks, and whose job is to provide food for modern consumption habits.
In the same vein, Smucker recently introduced a new line of uncrustable frozen sandwiches filled with meat and cheese instead of (PB&J) peanut butter and jam. The move comes after Nestlé recently launched Deliwich (a sandwich that does not require heating). These two familiar brands are stepping up to each other, and both are very hopeful of selling comfortable and accessible products that fit easily into our lunch break. These products are sold in the form of meat and cheese sandwiches or ham, cheddar, turkey and Colby cheese. Smucker is more determined than ever before and is building a $1.1 billion manufacturing plant in Alabama to produce more. Nestlé says the point about Delevingtes, some of which are called coldvh pockets, is somewhat unexpected that they are more popular among adults than kids. In 2019, American food industry company Kraft Heinz introduced its product, Launchbox Sandwiches, and EGGO unveiled its product Eggo Grab & Go Liege, which serves as the company's first waffle that doesn't require a toaster.
"It's very hard for families to prepare breakfast," EGGO Marketing Director Joe Beaupress said in the press release. We heard from parents that they often sacrifice the important need to eat their breakfast to make sure their kids start a good day. Defrostable frozen cakes (from Marie Callander and Edwards and others) are also available. Also,Europastry offers its customers bread and pastries made with sourdough, and Willamette Valley Pie recently introduced a group of peanut butter servings with fruity sandwiches called Berryfield.
Melissa Cash, employee of Nestlé's main U.S. factory strategy division, says: Defrosting and eating is a territory that, while quickly emerging in the food world, may not have targeted consumer interest as much. Despite the Delevingtes and its competitors, you can quickly get what you want, eat and then go back to work. Companies producing frozen foods suffered losses during the pandemic because consumers of these products were present at home and typically consumed home-cooked foods, but the sales bump appears to be continuing.
The rediscovery of consumers in store corridors to buy frozen food has led to increased innovation in the industry, reports Winsight Business, a publication on the food business. "Eating more meals at home is a "recurring behavior" that has been sustained after COVID-19, but these days people need more speed and convenience," says David Portalatin, food industry consultant at NPD Group.
In some cases, this means traveling to a restaurant by providing fast service, but on the other side, we want to keep new capacity in our home with shortcuts and time-saving techniques, Portalatin writes. The interesting fact is that Smucker produces nearly 4 million Uncrustables a day, saying the demand for these delicious meals, released in 2000, is "unprecedented." Finally, while the company specifically recommends not putting your sandwiches in the microwave (either toaster or fryer with air), some of its products can probably get better with heating, and it looks like this will be the future of the food industry.