Sales of frozen food items or ready-to-eat meals are on rise as a section of urbanites, particularly in Dhaka, have opted to stock up such products to avoid going outside amid Covid-19 pandemic that has been sweeping the country.
As the pandemic has been forcing people across the globe to adjust to a new situation such as avoiding restaurants and cafes, the demand for ready-to-eat chicken and beef products has grown over the last one year especially among the middle-class and working families, according to people involved in producing and selling frozen food items.
"Covid-19 pandemic has changed a lot of our habits. As people are forced to stay home, their dependence on frozen or ready-to-eat meals is on rise," said an official of Golden Harvest Agro Industries.
The rising demand of frozen food and snacks has lured over 35 companies signed agreement with Golden Harvest Agro Industries to do business, the official added.
He said Golden Harvest began its journey back in 2006. It has around 25 frozen food products including Ruti Porata, Singara (vegetable), Sausage, French Fries, Meat Ball, Fish Finger, Beef Burger Petty, Single Bite Chicken Samusa, Aloo Puri, Mini Chicken Springroll, Frozen Tehari and Nuggets.
He said the overall market for frozen food items, including meat products, currently stands at about Tk 1,200-1,500 crore. This figure is likely to double to Tk 3, 000 crore by 2025, he added.
A salesman of chain-grocery Swapno's Dhanmondi outlet said sales of frozen food items, especially ready-to-eat chicken and beef have become almost double over the last few months. French Fries, Meat Ball, Fish Finger and Beef Burger Petty are most-sought-after food items during the period, he added.
An official of Kazi Food Industries said the leading frozen food maker has 150 franchisees and quick-service restaurants across the country.
Sales at these outlets, which account for more than one third of the company's total sales, suffered at the beginning of the countrywide 'general holiday' that began on March 26, 2020 but sales started picking up in September-October, 2020.
"Demand in these outlets is still rising," he said.
Kazi Food also saw higher sales growth from retail and supermarkets during the same period.
A range of frozen food products, including Chicken Sausages, Chicken Kebab Roll, Chicken Teasers, Chicken Cutlets, Chicken Keema Paratha, Riti Parata, Filo Pastry, Chicken Meatball, Chicken Burger, Chicken Stripe are sold under the brand name 'Kazi Farms Kitchen'.
A top official of Paragon Group, a leading poultry breeder and chicken-based products manufacturer, said institutional sales dropped when the Covid-19 cases were detected first in March, 2020. But the demand from offices, hotels began to increase with people started returning to work in an effort to maintain their lives.
Paragon is expected to post 10 percent sales growth, he added.
An official of marketing department at Pran-RFL Group said the company saw good growth in the overall frozen food market this year.
"The frozen food market is growing fast and will continue as such," he added.
