London, Thanasis Gavos

Amid the country’s ongoing punctuality crisis and with headline food inflation for February at 18.2%, British consumers are turning to frozen food over fresh to save money.

This trend is confirmed by a survey by the polling company Kantar presented by the BBC, but also by large supermarket chains.

The most increased demand, by 5.9% compared to previous figures, is recorded in frozen chicken.

Frozen packaged meals, such as ready meals of all kinds, pizzas and cut potatoes record increased sales at a rate of 2.6%.

Frozen vegetables and frozen fruits for juices and sweets are also high on the preferences of British consumers at this time.

Overall, despite spending on food in Britain falling by 4% in the last quarter, frozen food sales were flat in the 12 weeks to mid-March.

Well-known supermarket chains such as Waitrose, Marks & Spencer, Iceland and Tesco confirmed to the BBC the new consumer trend. The British Retail Consortium reports the same.

A separate poll by Opinium of 2,000 consumers also shows that one in four are now buying more frozen food.

The same research also shows that 30% of British consumers buy more food from the discount shelves because of the closeness of the expiry date. Also 21% buy less meat and fish.

Consumers and analysts who have spoken to the BBC explain that frozen food tends to be considerably cheaper than fresh, has less or no inedible quantity and also retains its nutrients.

Retail analyst Ged Futter says frozen food has had a “bad reputation” for many years, but “the quality is actually very high”.

As he added, “Whether it’s peas, potatoes or fish, frozen is often better for health, as it is frozen as soon as it is ready, while fresh food can sometimes wait longer to reach the consumer.”