Considered by some to be cheaper, more convenient and faster, frozen products are often the delight of consumers. But the rise in prices, significant in this sector, could well break this idyll.

Shops of the week or simple occasional purchases, in front of the Picard frozen food store, customers flock. Estella opens her shopping bag: green beans, juliennes of vegetables, red fruits… “I didn’t buy a lot and I paid almost 20 euros” declares this 55-year-old childminder, “everything is expensive in this moment”. For her part, Noémie buys frozen foods three to four times a week, mainly vegetables. For this mother of two children, it is above all a time saver. But in terms of price, she notes “a huge increase” in these foods.

Some clients come to arbitrate between certain choices. “It’s not on the basic products that we’re going to cut corners but it’s on the small pleasures”, exclaims Jeanne*, training manager. “The last time I didn’t buy a frozen dessert because, even if it made you want to, it was expensive for what it was,” says Leo, logistics coordinator. For Véronique, it’s the same thing: “Fancy products like small sausage puff pastries, appetizer cakes or desserts, we don’t take less”.

The frozen section is even the one that has increased the most in one year, according to panelist Nielsen IQ. It is meat that takes the prize with a 30% increase in March 2023, according to their figures. The prices of frozen vegetables increased by 18.7%, ready meals took 20.7% and fast food 16.3%. “Before, I bought my packet of fries at 1.80 euros and now it has gone to 2.50 euros”, testifies Adama, employed in an association. “We can see an increase on certain prepared meals that we are used to buying, even a few euros,” exclaims Louis, 26, carrying two large bags of frozen shopping.

This price increase is mainly caused by the increase in the cost of energy and raw materials. “Concerning frozen foods, energy has a significant cost throughout the production chain,” explains Emma Sarrazy, consultant at NielsenIQ. For example, meat prices have jumped due to the rising cost of cereals, which are essential in animal feed.

“Frozen is a more inflationary market than food in general”, confirms Cathy Collart Geiger, general manager of Picard, even if the brands manage the rise in prices in a different way. Picard declares to contain this inflation at “15%”, “seven points below” the frozen market. “We only passed on the increase in the cost of raw materials in our final selling prices,” she explains, “expenses, such as the cost of energy, were passed on to our margins.”

But Picard believes he did not stop there to protect the purchasing power of his customers: “We revisited more than 500 products, maintaining quality but using more accessible ingredients”. In frozen dishes, salmon has been replaced by trout, foie gras stuffing by vegetable stuffing… “We are not the cheapest on the market, but we have the best value for money”, notes the Executive Director.

Many of the customers interviewed share the same observation: frozen foods are above all practical and they would even be more affordable. “Fresh vegetables go bad quickly and are super expensive,” argues Lisa, a thrift store employee. For Aurianne, it’s the same thing, “they are not necessarily cheaper and are complicated to peel”.

“Frozen foods have increased sharply from 2021, with sharp increases in energy prices, especially for fruits and vegetables,” says Sébastien Faivre, head of the consumer price division at INSEE. Frozen fruits have even increased by 56% in two years, according to figures from the institute. “This increase is not uniform on all products” he mentions, sweet pastries are less affected for example. However, since the rise in agricultural raw materials, there has been a catch-up of fresh products over frozen foods, without considering that they cost more.

“The perception of the price by the customer is important. By buying frozen, you know that you are not going to throw anything away,” says the general manager of the Picard brand. Frozen foods are not necessarily cheaper, but they are easier to store. The fact that fresh foods can be perishable can generate costs, which therefore benefits frozen foods, believes Sébastien Faivre. Something to reassure the most cautious…

*Name has been changed.