After the ready meals occupied the home kitchen, we inquired what the prices were

by time news

In the dynamic and changing world in which we live, the term “housewife” has become almost empty of content. Despite outrageous wage gaps between men and years, more and more women work for their livelihoods and families – and it seems that except for conservative sectors, the days when the man goes to work in the morning, his wife takes care of the house and takes care of children are gone – and when the breadwinner returns home. There may be readers who are smiling now at the archaic description, but in retrospect, this is a situation that was part of our childhood landscape, and not many years ago.

Bottom line: the kitchen, which was once a female territory, has become a focal point for all the occupants of the house. Moreover, the cooking programs, the marketing chains in collaboration with the chain’s anchors – who present us with colorful cuisine all day and tell us that each of us has a potential chef – have made the kitchen a magnet for the whole family in recent years.

Until we all become chefs, we will focus on your practice: a hot meal with a minimum of time and effort. In 1953, ready-made meals were launched in the United States, in an act that was then introduced as the woman’s liberation.

More than three decades ago, Osem launched the “hot dish” product in Israel, and it quickly became a generic brand. It was an innovation adopted by consumers although immediately categorized less as a home solution for everyday use, and more as a solution for a trip, reserve service and other situations where it is more difficult to enjoy “regular” food.

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However, this market has also changed and improved. Our lifestyle and the constant war on the resource that becomes more (literally) expensive day by day, time, forces us to find a solution that will try to combine two seemingly opposite elements: speed (instant) and quality (from taste to nutritional values).

The change in consumption habits and lifestyles has led to the development of the ready-to-eat meal segment in the freezer and refrigerator not just overseas. Here, too, this culture has begun to gain momentum in the last two years, and we are seeing more and more pictures and names of famous chefs on products and dishes stored in the freezer. The prepared meals are varied – from pizza to the oven, meat substitutes such as corn schnitzel, the ready-made schnitzel series we know from brands like Chicken Tov and Mama Chicken, meat or fish patties, to ready-made Sunfrost soups: just warm and serve at home, in the office or as a children’s heating solution. When we’re at work.

Basket of hot and served products (Photo: without credit)

From Vienna with love

Schnitzels, which are beloved by the Israeli consumer, and especially by children, are perceived as a dish in homemade meat, and they have become especially popular in this segment. They are divided into different types and different levels – from processed chicken slices to clean chicken breast in different coatings and flavors. A few minutes in the oven and you have a schnitzel ready to eat.
We checked in the marketing chains the average price for real schnitzel from Mama 100% homemade chicken weighing 700 grams, the prices range from NIS 30 for packaging in the Victory chain to NIS 49.90 in the Alonit chain, but the average price in the marketing chains per kg of product is NIS 43, and we have kg A schnitzel written on its packaging is “real” and even “homemade.”

The price is also friendly: Although the price of sliced ​​chicken breast per schnitzel costs us an average of NIS 35 per kilogram, to make schnitzels from it we need two eggs that cost NIS 1.90 and a pack of bread crumbs that cost NIS 3. Schnitzel requires frying in oil, so we consume about 150 Ml of oil, which will cost us about NIS 1.50 – and here we have reached a cost of NIS 41.40 per kilogram of schnitzel before work and preparation, as mentioned, compared to NIS 43 per kilogram of semi-prepared schnitzel. A negligible gap (without taking into account the cost of our time) in favor of a product that every child can heat himself in the oven and for a week.

Basket of hot and served products (Photo: without credit)Basket of hot and served products (Photo: without credit)

Kosher and vegan

As mentioned, the world of ready meals already includes many more spreaders and schnitzels. The best chefs “bring” us home dishes. For example, this year Strauss launched ready-made meals under the Delicious brand, with a series of products that starts with pastries and pizzas, and continues with Asian dishes such as Indian-style curry rice or Malaysian-style noodles, alongside Italian dishes of varied pastas and rice or quinoa stews – six minutes of heating. And we have a meal.

Shlomi Koren, Director of Sales and Trade at Strauss Elite, tells us that the field, which is in Israel at the beginning of its path, is not new in the world and that it is developing dynamically. According to him, Strauss carefully examined the segment and the way to launch it, and did not compromise on quality and flavors along the way, since Israeli consumers are connoisseurs of taste and quality, and if the products do not appeal to the Israeli palate, they will fail. Therefore, he says: “There we put the main emphasis, ingredients, recipes and high production technologies, designed to address and lead the consumer culture in the field forward. I believe the solution will expand to other areas and even address consumers of food prepared for holiday and Saturday meals. Another advantage “What we presented in the products is that the dishes are without animal ingredients and are also suitable for vegans and vegetarians, as well as being highly kosher that suits the majority of the population.”

The Super Pharm chain also recognized the need, and it developed and set up a new sales segment and a new chain called “Daily’s”, in the format of an independent ready-made food chain and in a “store within a store” format, as we know from the giant chains abroad. The main course is actually a cafeteria that offers ready-made and combined dishes such as: main course and side dishes, sandwiches and a wide range of fresh and complementary food.Most products are refrigerated, and unlike the frozen products segment in supermarkets, the branding and packaging convey quality and represent an innovative line. Regarding pricing: The prices are not worth every penny and are aimed in advance at the high segment of office workers. Although it is a more affordable price than that of lunch in a restaurant, but if we compare to the cheaper chains of cafes, or to a pita replacement product, we find the quality option Is not cheap at all.

Purchase basket survey for products in the hot and serve category (Photo: without credit)Purchase basket survey for products in the hot and serve category (Photo: without credit)

We may never align with Europe and North America. We are Israelis, and naturally we are more family and homely (in general of course). It’s hard for us to give up home cooking – and even when it comes to daily household consumption, our first preference is for cooking home-cooked food that can be kept refrigerated and heated throughout the week. And despite this reservation, the way for Western innovations is to assimilate among Israelis as well: we may not become the American bachelor from the movies, who apart from a refrigerator has only a coffee machine and microwave at home, but there is no doubt that in Israel the field will develop in the coming years.

The author is the CEO of the Institute for Retail Research

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