Fresh and easy to go

Chilled & fresh food – healthy, fresh and ready to eat

We’re feeling more time pressure and we’re increasingly mobile: a growing number of people around the world are eating and snacking “on the go”, be that in the mornings on the way to work, during lunch breaks or in the evening on the way to the gym. Others, on the way home, grab ready or almost-ready meals, and foods they can quickly and easily prepare themselves.

It’s no surprise, then, that the market for fresh, chilled delicacies is booming. Handy snacks and meals, ready to eat or ready to heat, are a hot trend right now. Especially when they combine convenience with the health factor – for example with natural products free from artificial ingredients – or with a focus on sustainability. Many consumers appreciate smaller packaging sizes (targeted at single-person households) that help reduce food waste, and they look for minimal, recyclable packaging. It may be more expensive than old-fashioned, cooked meals, but demand is predicted to grow further nevertheless. This trend is also being driven by sociodemographic developments such as the growing number of two-income families, millennials and working women.

As a result, more and more fresh, chilled products can be found in the refrigerated sections of our supermarkets: from fresh pasta, fish (preparations), salads, prepared sauces, marinated vegetables and sliced fruits to freshly pressed juices and smoothies, milk and cheese products, and desserts. One clear advantage is that these products, because they are chilled at a temperature of 6°C, last longer than comparable products that are not chilled. Caterers also often use these chilled products when putting together varied salad and dessert buffets, for example.

With such an extensive choice of products, it can often be difficult and time-consuming to keep on top of things and identify the likely bestsellers. But you can do just that quickly and easily at Anuga Chilled & Fresh Food. As one of the 10 food fairs under the Anuga roof, it brings together – in Hall 5.1 – around 190 international suppliers who present their innovations and products for you.

In this context the suppliers take up the topics that occupy producers and retailers: new recipes and preparation methods, exotic product worlds, clean labelling listing all ingredients, and the highlighting of specific consumer wishes and requirements such as vegetarian or lactose intolerance. But that’s not all: more than 2,600 exhibitors across all 10 food fairs present ready-to-eat products. As a result, Anuga represents the breadth and depth of the selection available around the world in a compact yet comprehensive way.

You can find further valuable insights and information on chilled and fresh food at the E-Grocery Congress @ Anuga 2019, which covers subjects such as the logistical challenge of online and bricks-and-mortar food retailing. How do you get fresh goods to consumers in time? How do you comply with cold chains and hygiene regulations? What role do shelf life and packaging play? You can get tickets for the E-Grocery Congress @ Anuga 2019 here .