September 17, 2024 – Globally, prepared salads are preferred for their convenience, freshness, and versatility, offering a quick and healthy meal option that fits into busy lifestyles. Here we will highlight latest salad industry trends including product launches, innovations, top brands and what may develop in the future.
Prepared Salad Product Launch and Sales Trends
Prepared salad launches display an average of 4% launches as a percentage of ready meals and side dishes category globally over the past four years. Salad trends display that potato salad leads the category, followed by Caesar, coleslaw, and Russian salads. Salads made with eggs, meat products, chicken, pork, turkey, and seafood like tuna, salmon, and shrimp provide a balanced mix of taste and texture, driving new product launches. Global sales of prepared salads have also seen a 4% CAGR rise over the past five years, reflecting their growing popularity in the market.
Leading Regions in the Prepared Salad Market
Europe is the top region for prepared salad launches and sales. Salad trends shows that in Europe, the UK leads new product development over the past year. Choices with reduced fat options, gourmet coleslaws, and salads made with a blend of cheese and grains are growing in popularity.
Prepared salad research shows that 44% of European consumers are open to trying new global cuisines, fueling a 15% growth in launches featuring ethnic flavors. This salad trend aligns with Innova’s annual Top Trend, ‘Local Goes Global,’ which highlights the dual loyalties of consumers to their own local foods and cuisine and to global foods that highlight local ingredients.
Salad industry trends research highlights that Latin America displays high innovation and value growth over the past two years. It is supported by diverse dressings, including oriental dressings, sauce dressings, and a variety of salad recipes and preparations with grains and legumes, which support the innovation in Latin America.
Top Companies and Brands in the Prepared Salad Industry
Albert Heijn, Lidl, Fresh Servant, Woolworths, Aldi, Sainsburys, and Carrefour are the top 7 companies for prepared salad launches globally. Salad trends reveals that these top 7 companies account for a total of 24% of launches over the past year.
Albert Heijn leads in prepared salad launches, offering innovative options like quinoa apple meal with apple dressing, udon noodles with peanut free satay dressing meal salad, and cauliflower cous cous salad with spicy mango dressing. These convenient salads often come with separate dressing packs.
Meanwhile, Lidl shows the highest growth rate of 28% CAGR among these top 7 companies over the past two years. It is driven by region-specific potato salad styles like Rhine, Nordic, and Frankfurt, tuna salads, and meat-based preparations featuring chicken, turkey, and sausage. It indicates that both brands are capitalizing on variety and convenience to drive growth in the prepared salad market.
Prepared Salad Positionings Trends
The top 5 positionings in global prepared salads launches are vegan, no additives or preservatives, vegetarian, source of protein, and gluten-free.
Apart from these top 5 positionings, source of fiber, and low/no/reduced calorie claims are gaining popularity in Asia Pacific, while consumers in Europe lean towards traditional, limited edition, and low/no/reduced fat. Salad trends display that in the Middle East and Africa, source of fiber claims is gaining consumer attention. Meanwhile, in North America, HFCS free and source of fiber claims are on the rise. This reflects the demand for health-conscious products customized to specific regional preferences.
Prepared Salad Flavor Trends
Chicken, tuna, red tomato, carrot, and cheese are the top 5 flavors in the global prepared salads market.
In Asia Pacific, there is a rising interest in ricotta cheese, basil, and Mexican flavors. Salad trends reveal that European consumers prefer flavors like ginger, goat cheese, and cherry tomato. Meanwhile, in Latin America, Mediterranean flavor is gaining popularity. In the Middle East and Africa, green pesto flavor is growing. These diverse flavor preferences across the globe reveal that consumers are increasingly seeking region-specific and globally inspired tastes, driving innovation and variety in food product development to cater to local palates.
What’s Next in Prepared Salad Trends?
Salad trends show that nearly 2 in 5 consumers globally are open to trying plant-based versions of familiar foods, leading to an increase in plant-based and vegan claims in prepared salads. This aligns with Innova’s annual Top Trend, ‘Plant-based: The Rise of Applied Offerings,’ catering to consumers embracing plant-based products.
Innovations include plant based alternatives for mortadella sausage, chicken, bacon, and tuna made with soy and pea proteins, as well as wheat-based bacon and egg free mayonnaise. Regional flavor trends like Mediterranean, Mexican, and green pesto, along with indulgent options featuring cheese and berries, drive new product development. Brands are likely to have several opportunities to further explore these flavors and plant-based alternatives to meet evolving consumer preferences in the prepared salad industry trends.
This article is based on our report, “Overview of Prepared Salads – Global.” If you are interested in reading this report, feel free to request a demo.
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