The power of frozen

Frozen food is great for customers and for the planet

Quality

Freezing is nature’s pause button: an entirely natural process that allows us to capture food in its peak condition as soon as it is picked, caught or made.

Academic studies have demonstrated that frozen fruit and vegetables typically contain more vitamins and anti-oxidants than “fresh” ones that have spent days, often weeks, in the supply chain.

Frozen fish really is fresher than “fresh” fish that has either spent days making its way to the supermarket or, more typically, has been frozen at sea and then defrosted for sale as “fresh” at a premium price. Rapid commercial blast freezing produces a vastly superior result to anything consumers can achieve by freezing fresh products at home, hence the much longer shelf life it can offer.1

Freezing locks in flavour, and we have proven in blind taste tests over many years that very people few can detect any difference in eating quality between fresh and frozen food right across our food. Frozen food is every bit as good for you as fresh. What’s more, freezing minimises the need for artificial preservatives and other additives used to prolong the shelf life of chilled food.

1http://bfff.co.uk/frozen-facts/

Value

Frozen food is intrinsically better value to produce than fresh food because everything can be frozen within its season when it’s abundant and on production runs that are long and efficient, and waste is therefore reduced. All these economies are shared with the customer. In 2018 a study by Manchester Metropolitan University showed that British families could reduce their waste by nearly half (47.5%) by eating frozen food.

The study found that cooking frozen food was significantly better value and there was considerably less waste, with many families agreeing that their frozen meals were as good as, or better than fresh. When it came to cost, 18 out of 20 families found frozen to be better value than fresh with an average saving of 29.9%. Across the study there was a total saving of £752.43 when using frozen (£1,764.01 compared to £2,516.44), with the average cost saving per family being £37.62.

Fridgeables - Creating better access

Our ‘Fridgeable’ labelling enables greater access to our frozen food to the estimated 1 in 10 households (2.8 million people) in the UK who live in appliance poverty without a freezer.

Fridgeable labelling shows which of our frozen foods can be put straight into the fridge and how long those foods can be kept in the fridge after defrosting. It also helps families living without a freezer or with far too little freezer space to save money by accessing frozen food, which is often cheaper than the fresh equivalent.

Research shows the average family weekly food shop is £60, however a family without the right appliances can expect to spend 43% more because they cannot buy in bulk or buy frozen goods. Unlocking the Power of Frozen food has the potential to save families over a thousand pounds a year and our aim is to make that potential a reality by making the Fridgeable logo and various other assets freely available to other retailers and brands.

We are aiming to roll out Fridgeable across all applicable own label ranges and our initial goals are to increase amount of time people can store products in the fridge to up to 72 hours and to at least double the size of the range in the year ahead.

 

 

Provenance

Because it’s frozen, we can give our customers food from authentic, trusted sources – for example, the genuine Italian pizzas made for us by a family business in the foothills of the Dolomites, using real mozzarella cheese and other local ingredients.

We can also provide a full range of seasonal fruit and vegetables all year round, as they are harvested in season when they are at their best and most abundant.

Less waste

Frozen food is less wasteful than fresh food because it has a much longer shelf life. This minimises waste in our stores and supply chain, and in our customers’ homes as you can use as much or as little as you like.

Also, because frozen vegetables are usually peeled, chopped or diced, we use ‘wonky veg’, avoiding waste caused by the quest for perfect-looking vegetables in fresh displays.