Once confined to peas and pizza, new supermarket data from Ocado Retail reveals that the freezer aisle is having a renaissance as shoppers add more frozen products to their baskets. Consumers are increasingly drawn to the growing quality, variety, and value frozen foods offer, relying on them for everything from convenient weeknight dinners to meal prepping for the week ahead.
New data from Ocado Retail shows that overall sales of frozen products are up by 18% year-on-year, with almost half of UK adults (47%) saying they’ve increased their frozen purchases in the past year.
The top performing categories are frozen fruit and frozen vegetables, with sales up 23% and 38% respectively in the past year. Standout products include Ocado frozen strawberries, up 85%, and PACK’D organic broccoli florets, up 97%. Frozen herbs are up 31%, with Ocado Own Range frozen coriander and chopped garlic up 46% and 21% respectively, highlighting how shoppers are increasingly using frozen ingredients to prepare meals from scratch.
Demand is also growing for frozen pastries, as consumers turn to frozen to keep their bakery products fresher for longer and more convenient, with Pret’s Almond Frozen Croissant sales up +80% and M&S Frozen Croissant sales up +56% year-on-year.
Shoppers are replacing store cupboard staples with their frozen equivalents, with searches for frozen sauces up 63%, and sales of cupboard staples like M&S Italian tomato sauce up 29%. Ice Kitchen, a small supplier focused on providing fragrant frozen pastes and sauces, has seen sales rise 16% year-on-year. Its Thai Red Curry and Thai Panange Curry pastes are particularly popular this year, with sales up 56% and 139% respectively.
STOCKED, an exclusive new challenger brand that forms part of Ocado Roots programme – an incubator programme for smaller brands – provides customers with delicious dishes frozen into blocks, allowing people to choose their portions each time they cook. Its Curried Chickpeas ready meal has seen sales rise by 29% month-on-month, also offering Classic Bolognese, Chicken Tinga and Beef Chilli frozen ready meals.
Nicola Waller, buying director for fresh & frozen at Ocado Retail, said: “Frozen food is seeing a real resurgence as shoppers are discovering that it offers reassuringly good value and quality, as well as unmatched convenience. It’s no longer just a backup option or last resort for rainy days – frozen products are helping households reduce food waste, making cooking more manageable without compromising on taste.”
The research by Ocado Retail and Savanta shows just how far frozen has come. Almost three quarters of UK adults (73%) believe frozen food quality has improved in recent years, while four in five (80%) say there is more choice than ever before. Once associated with compromise, frozen is increasingly seen as a way to eat well while keeping costs and waste down.
Health concerns are also driving the shift, as consumers grow more conscious of ultra-processed foods. According to the data, 43% agree that buying frozen food helps them cut back on UPFs, opting for staples like vegetables, fruit, and bread that can be cooked from frozen without preservatives.
Convenience remains a key driver, as frozen products help shoppers plan, prepare, and shop more efficiently rather than simply saving effort. Two-thirds of shoppers (67%) say frozen ingredients help them plan meals more effectively, nearly three-quarters (74%) say it speeds up preparation, and almost half (48%) say it saves
