The fact that the phrase ‘breaking bread’ is used to describe a meal tells how important this humble baked product is for humans. Whether they are those that puff up when baked or unleavened, flat ones, breads are the primary source of carbohydrates, the main energy-giving foods, around the world. However, all such edible items are perishable and have a rather short best-before date, typically of 2–3 days from the day of manufacturing/cooking. Therefore, to increase their shelf life, they are now being deep-frozen.

This is why P&S Intelligence predicts significant growth for the frozen bakery market in the coming years. Freezing such products at between –18 to –40 degrees Celsius stops the growth of mold, thereby preventing them from spoilage and raising their shelf life to up to 12 months! Moreover, deep-freezing helps maintain the nutrient content of bakery products for longer. Hence, with people becoming aware of a healthy life and focusing increasingly on improving their diet, the demand for frozen bakery items is rising.

Apart from breads, cakes, pizzas, pastries, and a huge array of other bakery products are being frozen. In recent years, frozen pizzas have gained widespread popularity as they are readily available at supermarkets and gas stations. These pizzas give people the convenience of taking them home, thawing them, and then simply baking them, thereby helping save the time consumed in making the crust and assembling the toppings. Thus, with people’s lives becoming increasingly busy, they are getting lesser and lesser time to cook a proper meal, in which regard frozen pizzas have become a real life-saver.

Apart from retail stores, frozen food items, most popularly pizzas, are also kept within vending machines. The hot pizza vending machines of Japan have become hugely popular in recent years. Because of the exorbitant rates for renting commercial real estate in Japan, such machines have become a good alternative to small and medium-sized convenience stores. As a customer enters their choice of pizza, the vending machine transfers the frozen pizza to the oven and then produces a freshly baked one. Frozen goods are essential for such machines as they might have to sit inside for long periods before being ordered.

Developed regions, such as Europe and North America, are still the larger frozen bakery markets because of the lifestyle here that is becoming increasingly busy, especially in major cities. Additionally, with the easy and convenient availability of food at restaurants and other food service settings, the trend of cooking at home is diminishing. For instance, as per the Bureau of Labor Statistics, almost half the food budget of the people of the U.S. is spent on eating out. Similarly, as per another study, only 10% Americans love cooking at home.

Many of the cheap restaurants keep frozen food items, which they simply put in a microwave or pan before being eaten. Anyone who has seen Kitchen Nightmares hosted by Gordon Ramsay knows this. And, since not everyone is well-versed in baking from scratch, frozen bakery items go a long way in feeding hungry mouths without much ado. As a result of the growing demand for such eatables, companies, including Associated British Foods, DuPont, Archer Daniels Midland Company, Palsgaard, Puratos Group, Sensient Technologies Corporation, ConAgra Foods Inc., Kellogg Co., David Michael & Co., Kerry Group, and Lonza Group Ltd., are offering new types of frozen bakery products.

Hence, with a shift in people’s food habits, the demand for frozen bakery items will rise further.