Is Social Media Affecting Views On Frozen Food?

Frozen Food Is Heating Up

Frozen food, long dubbed as unsatisfying and loaded with preservatives, is no longer getting the cold shoulder. When frozen produce offers benefits over non-frozen food, it’s no surprise that we are seeing a surge in the market. 

According to the market research firm, Nielsen, the volume of frozen food has surged with millennial households reportedly being responsible for spending 9% more on frozen foods per trip.  With research showing growth in frozen products, millennials look to frozen for convenient meal solutions to suit their busy schedules. But are they educated enough on the nutritional value of frozen foods? In fact, a recent study by Birds Eye found that 36% of 18-24 year olds believe that frozen fruit and veg contains fewer nutrients than fresh. 

Source: Birds Eye Myth busters study 2018

 

Millennials Don’t Believe In The Power of Frozen

In an era where millennials are obsessed with organic and whole foods, there is a fight for frozen to overcome its perception of being processed and unhealthy, the rival fresh produce in quality and nutritional value.
There are many studies to date that have shown that freezing locks in the goodness, so why are millennials associating frozen food  with lower nutritional value? 
The recent Birds Eye Frozen Food study suggests that they instantly associate it as unhealthy because of the types of food consumers are buying. In fact, the study concluded that 37% of 18-24 year olds purchase ‘treat’ foods such as ice cream and lollies each week. It’s, therefore, no surprise that their perception of frozen is inherently unhealthy, and that the rise of frozen sales is due to convenience over health benefits. 

Is Social Media Distorting Our Reality? 

One of the most common influences on food choices is social media. Globally, more than 2.8 billion people use social media with 88% of 18 to 29 year-olds driving the most social media consumption (source). 

Social media is now driving the decisions behind consumer food choices more than ever, especially within the healthy eating space and Instagram certainly takes the top spot as a destination for food obsession trends. Take the most notable ‘clean eating’ trends smoothie bowls (essentially smoothies overloaded with fresh fruit). This trend saw a rapid increase with over 1.5 million posts on Instagram. In fact, even a quick search on Instagram shows just how popular fresh food is with 2.1 million posts, versus frozen food, which only has 400,000.

With such a high number of beautifully crafted photos of fresh food, you could argue that Instagram is distorting our perception by showing that fresh is the only option to gain all the nutrients we need. As millennials are the largest audience tuning into social media for food inspiration, it’s no surprise they are more and more frequently associating a balanced diet with fresh food and neglecting frozen. Could this be the reason behind why they are less educated around the health benefits of frozen food versus the older generation, who are less likely to be exposed to social media? 

Give Frozen a Chance

Frozen food often gets the raw deal for being less nutritious than fresh, but the truth is that freezing actually locks in the goodness. To prove our point, we have rounded up the top myth-busting reasons for stacking up your freezer.  

Locked in nutrition

Once produce is at its peak ripeness, it’s harvested and quickly  frozen through a technique called flash freezing. This process locks in vitamins and minerals to keep fruit and veggies' high nutritional content. Fresh produce on the other hand, may be days old before you consumer it. During storage can lose some of its nutrients. For more information check out our Benefits of Frozen, page. 

Less Waste and More Money

Did you know every year a whopping 18 million tonnes of food ends up in UK landfill (source)? Choosing to purchase frozen food instead of letting fresh go to waste, not only saves money but also can really help to limit this problem and in time lead to a reduction in food waste. Photo by influencer lecoindemel