Will Frozen Foods Ever Be Better Than Fresh?

Frozen foods have always been considered second-class citizens when compared to fresh. Frozen food companies like ConAgra have seen either no change or slight decline in sales for many of their frozen product lines, according to AdvertisingAge. However, a new advertising campaign just might change your impression of the often-maligned foodstuff.

The American Frozen Food Institute and the "Frozen Food Roundtable", which includes ConAgra, General Mills, Heinz, Kellogg, and Nestlé have teamed up to create a $50 million advertising campaign to promote a positive image of frozen foods, since these companies are all suffering frozen sales. Omaha.com believes this campaign is designed to target certain age groups who are more inclined to purchase fresh foods.

Despite frozen foods getting bad publicity in the past, like the Wendy's slogan, "Fresh, not frozen," as well as Subway's "Eat Fresh," ConAgra and other frozen food companies have seen consumer backlash. However, recent news has shown the rise in dependency of frozen foods. The Wall Street Journal found that Les Templiers, a Parisian restaurant, uses frozen ingredients and sometimes serves frozen main courses to save time, money and energy. Even Press-Citizen's Kym Wroble seems to commend and even encourage frozen dinners, arguing their greater health benefits than home cooking, citing fewer calories and less sodium.

Even though there is some public endorsement about frozen food benefits, they fall under the same negative health effects as packaged foods. While these companies hope to change the perception of frozen foods, it seems they will never truly overtake the popularity of fresh ones.