It sounds trite, but there was a time when chefs were treated as veritable servants in the kitchen. The days of the french-trained five-star restaurant beauruse have been gone for a long time. Nowadays, “chef” might just as well mean “convenience”. As society has shifted towards convenience, so has the restaurant industry like eggs madeira funchal, and this shift does not seem to be slowing down any time soon. There’s also an increased demand for culinary techniques that can produce delicious food with minimal effort (or often none at all).
1. 3 million google results on the phrase “serve from frozen”, and counting.
This is not surprising. The convenience afforded by frozen foods has made them popular for decades, and conversely, frozen foods have also improved to the point that the average family could easily eat almost exclusively from them. Why bother with a hot local pizza shop when you can just heat up a DiGiorno’s in your home oven? Today’s consumers expect food to be quick and easy to prepare, and since there are always more consumers than chefs, their needs will be met.
Foods that are more convenient are also more accessible, as reflected by their sales numbers. Chances are, if you want to cook something at home, it’s a frozen product that you’ll need. That’s not to say that frozen foods are the only convenient options, there are plenty of other options available in the marketplace.
Consider the numbers behind convenience foods:
Convenience Store Sold Food by Category (Thousands of Units) (Source: U.S. Dept of Agriculture)
It is also possible that frozen food works better as a convenience food because they can be seen as “treats” or “snacks”, providing a way for children to get their fair share of sweets in a safe way.
2. Frozen food sales in America have quadrupled since 1993.
On the other hand, “scarcity” may be the reason why frozen foods do so well in convenience stores. Scarcity usually incites demand for a product and is often tied to other factors such as price or convenience.
In the case of frozen foods, we’re probably seeing this scarcity in the number of units sold as opposed to price. This is because frozen food products are more expensive than their fresh counterparts because of the costs associated with freezing, transportation, storing and shelf-life. In fact, many frozen food products cost significantly more than their fresh counterparts! For example: Frozen pizza is on average 170% more expensive than its fresh counterpart (coupons can cut into costs). Frozen vegetables are about 270% more expensive. Frozen shrimp are about 10 times more expensive. Frozen lamb is about twice as expensive.
3. Frozen food sales have increased by 80% since the early 1990’s.
That increase mirrors the increase in convenience store sales over this period.
4. Frozen food is more expensive than fresh food, even when you factor in “coupons”.
This is largely due to the costs of freezing and transporting foods.
5. A lot of people believe that frozen foods taste better than fresh goods. This may be because consumers perceive frozen products as having a longer shelf-life:
In addition, fresh foods can become contaminated with freezer burn or other types of spoilage bacteria or mold, which then alters their taste and texture (e.g., french fries). Many frozen products are packaged with protective films to prevent this from occurring (e.g., cheese sauce or ice cream). However, there is no evidence to suggest that frozen foods necessarily taste better than their fresh counterparts. There has been little research into the tastes of frozen foods ( source ) , but there is some evidence to suggest that it may be a matter of perception: Taste tests in which people were asked to eat identical dishes made from fresh and frozen ingredients yielded mixed results. Some people report that they can tell the difference, while others do not. Although taste seems to depend on individual sensitivity, most people can’t detect a difference between ingredients prepared by conventional cooking and those prepared by freezing (source).
6. Frozen foods are more popular with children than adults.
One study actually tried to figure this out and found that 8-year-olds actually preferred frozen foods more than adults did, but that didn’t last: “6- to 8-year-olds enjoyed frozen foods more than adults, but these preferences disappeared by the time they reached their teenage years.” ( source )
7. Frozen foods are an increasingly important part of the defense industry.
The military has a dearth of food specialists, and freezing technology is one way to solve that problem while also providing a means of feeding soldiers in the field.
8. Frozen food is an increasingly important part of the healthcare industry.
This trend is also related to our obsession with convenience, as frozen foods are perceived to be easier and safer than fresh foods. In this regard, there’s even a special category in the US called “Unprocessed Freezers” and these are used to store and preserve fresh foods for long periods without refrigeration (which can make them dangerous for certain people). This trend is also becoming more popular in Europe where freezing has become available on a broad scale.
