Frozen meal giant Conagra Brands, Inc. is trying to capture budget-conscious shoppers opting for convenient and healthier options by launching dozens of new frozen foods this month.
The frozen food meals, including single-serve and multi-serve meals, vegetable side dishes, and gluten-free and plant-based meals, are slated to arrive in stores and e-commerce outlets in June as the company attempts to reverse back-to-back declines in reported and organic net sales. During its third fiscal quarter, the three-month period ending in February, net sales declined 6.3% year-over-year while organic net sales decreased by 5.2%.
The company is confident in its offerings, touting in April that its "frozen products are perfect for consumers looking to save money and enjoy a delicious meal." Still, there is a challenge to capturing those shoppers.
Industry analysts told FOX Business that Conagra is navigating a difficult landscape, as more Americans are cooking at home due to economic concerns. Meanwhile, quick-service restaurants — which also appeal to convenience-seeking consumers — are aggressively promoting deals to boost in-store traffic.
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Both present challenges for a company that wants consumers to spend money on a frozen meal, which may be convenient but is not always cheaper than fresh ingredients, or a deal at a local quick-service restaurant, according to Bank of America Securities food and beverage analyst Peter Galbo.
The issue with frozen meals is that the value is not the same as it used to be, according to Galbo, who noted that the packaged food industry has raised prices by about 25% to 30% between 2021 and 2024.
"It provides you with convenience at a premium price relative to cooking at home," Galbo said.
When comparing the price paid for a certain amount of calories, it is likely cheaper to make meals at home from scratch. Not only will there be more food when making it from scratch, resulting in leftovers, but it is "probably going to be cheaper on a price per calorie basis," according to Galbo.
Earlier this month, as concerns about the economy proliferated throughout households, Campbell's CEO Mick Beekhuizen told analysts during the company's third quarter earnings call that there has been a growing preference for home-cooked meals, "leading to the highest levels of meals prepared at home since early 2020."
Despite the ongoing negotiations between President Donald Trump and key trading partners, the uncertainty and volatility that still persists in the market are already forcing most of the survey respondents to "explore a range of personal financial behaviors to protect their pocketbooks," according to consulting firm McKinsey, which conducted a survey in May to understand how tariffs are shaping consumer concerns and behaviors.
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Meanwhile, consumers are simultaneously getting inundated with ads about deals at quick-service restaurants like McDonald's and Taco Bell, according to Galbo.
"The calories you get out of that is higher than what you get on a frozen meal is a lot of it. For an equivalent-ish price, maybe a little bit more, you get a lot more calories relative to what the frozen meal is," he said, adding that that is the competitive set.
"If you think about what frozen meals compete against. It's against food at home, it's against quick-service restaurants. And so the value proposition to the consumer isn't what it used to be," he added.
For the company to effectively compete, Conagra has been trying to incentivize consumers who remain "stretched" with innovation, and by offering "some low discount, high-quality promotions."
Conagra CEO Sean Connolly told analysts in April that the company has been seeing shifts in behavior for years, "where you've got stretched household balance sheets, you've had value seeking behavior, people seeking trade-offs."
"So that's been in place, and it's been everything from the beginning around things like more use of leftovers, things like that. So that has been with us. We invested to kind of overcome some of those challenges," he added.
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Arun Sundaram, senior vice president and equity analyst at CFRA Research, said Conagra's latest lineup of products taps into some key trends, including strong demand for affordable, convenient meals, especially among budget-conscious shoppers.
It is also trying to entice the healthier consumer by "leaning into targeted dietary preferences with more gluten-free, vegan, and vegetarian options," Sundaram said. In 2024, Conagra was one of the first big food companies to introduce a GLP-1-friendly label on its Healthy Choice line, which is "a smart move, in our view, given surging demand for anti-obesity medications like Ozempic," Sundaram added.
While he agreed that frozen meals may not always beat home cooking on price, he noted that the upside is that they "offer solid value, longer shelf life, and can help with portion control and reducing waste."
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