Crossing the frozen food tundra for economic survival

摘要

If there's one product category that knows a thing or two about surviving during an economic downturn, it's the frozen food market. After all, frozen food was created in the midst of the worst economic downturn in American history. Clarence Birdseyeand his Birds Eye Foods Company introduced the world's first frozen food line in March 1930 -- less than six months after the famous stock market crash of October 1929, the precursor to the Great Depression of the 1930s. While the current economic doldrums are not even remotely close to the dire economic straits of the Great Depression, our trying times have helped create new winners and losers in the retail arena. And one of those winners appears to be makers of frozen foods. Indeed, there is evidencethat frozen food makers have turned the corner in the unending battle against fastfood restaurants and takeout fare. According to statistics provided by The NPD Group of Port Washington, N.Y., the number of meals purchased by the average American at a restaurant to be eaten at home dropped for the first time in 12 years, from 141 meals in 1999 to 138 in 2000. The NPD Group says that this decrease is directly related to the number of new, ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat products offered at supermarkets.