May 3, 2004 2:19 PM, from staff and wire reports

Research and Markets has added The World Market for Chilled Food 2004, which analyzes sales of chilled food at world and regional levels, as well as in more than 50 individual nations. The sales period under review is 1998–2003, with forecasts to 2008.

A major constraint on global development of this market is the difficulty of penetrating emerging regions. These markets are increasingly driving growth in packaged food sales, as core-developed markets suffer from increasing maturity. However, high unit prices for chilled food—and scarcity of household refrigerators—deter consumers in emerging markets, while a lack of refrigerated storage and display facilities in retail outlets means distribution remains limited.

Growth in developing markets at the end of 2003 was underpinned by rising levels of disposable income and the expansion of the supermarkets/hypermarkets retail channel, which provides facilities to stock chilled products.

Packaged food producers’ reliance on development of multiple grocers in emerging markets is magnified in relation to chilled food. In developed core markets that dominate global sales, however, the significance of supermarkets also challenges producers, as it underpins the strength of the private-label segment. Private-label products have intensified price competition in developed markets, while their increasing sophistication has blurred the distinction between private labels and branded items.

Producers of chilled food also face competition from frozen, canned, and dried food, which are all more durable than their chilled counterparts.

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