UK Ready Meals Market Report 2026
New variants are a key means to drive purchase of ready meals. Only 39% of buyers favour meals they've bought before.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- What you need to know
- Outlook for ready meals
- Opportunities
- Explore gut health claims to engage current and new users
- Offer 'safe adventure' to drive purchase
- Address negative perceptions of plastic packaging
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THE MARKET
- Snapshot – market size and forecast
- Consumers' financial health is crucial for ready meals
- Rapid inflation deters ready meals usage
- Changes to EPR rules raise costs for composite packaging
- Government and public scrutiny on health remains strong
- Value sales to continue to outpace volumes over 2026-31
- Market size and forecast of ready meals and others
- Graph 1: retail value sales of ready meals, sides, meat substitutes and other meal components*, 2021-31
- Own label dominates; strong growth for Charlie Bigham's
- Graph 2: retail value sales of chilled ready meals, sides and meat substitutes, by top three brands and own label, 2023/24-2025/26
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THE CONSUMER
- Nine in 10 people eat ready meals, led by under-45s
- Under-45s lead on ready meals usage
- Ready meals usage is down on 2025
- Graph 3: types of ready meals eaten, 2025-26
- Younger and wealthier people are the core ready meal users
- Focus on gut health to engage existing and new users
- Ready meals with gut health claims appeal to many
- Gut health claims have untapped potential in ready meals
- Use ingredients with digestive health associations
- Combine health claims with an emphasis on taste
- Offer newness to drive purchase
- Interesting flavours/ingredients are key to a premium image
- Offer something different to engage consumers
- Put a twist on classic dishes
- Explore 'retro revivals' of forgotten dishes
- Address consumer concerns around plastic packaging
- Plastic trays face negative perceptions
- Act urgently on packaging contamination concerns
- Highlight efforts to avoid microplastics and PFAS
- Emphasise clean supply chain for seafood-based meals
- Emphasise plastic trays' environmental credentials
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PRODUCT, INNOVATION AND MARKETING
- Nutrient-dense meals launched by various grocers
- Challenger brands also explore nutrient-dense meals
- Brand extensions heat up the competition
- Premium launches continue
- Seasonal/limited-edition launches take cues from social media and sporting events
- Children's ready meals emphasise their health credentials
- Retailers and brands flag up their meals' premium quality
- Brands and own label emphasise their health credentials
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APPENDIX
- Market definition
- The market
- Forecast methodology
- Forecast methodology – fan chart
- Market size: value and volume sales of ready meals and others, 2021-26
- Graph 4: retail value sales of ready meals, sides, meat substitutes and other meal components*, 2021-26
- Graph 5: retail volume sales of ready meals, sides, meat substitutes and other meal components*, 2021-26
- Market size and forecast of ready meals and others – volumes
- Graph 6: retail volume sales of ready meals, sides, meat substitutes and other meal components*, 2021-31
- Market forecast and prediction intervals – values
- Market forecast and prediction intervals – volumes
- Market segmentation
- Market share: chilled ready meals, sides and meat substitutes – value sales – brands
- Market share: chilled ready meals, sides and meat substitutes – volume sales – brands
- Market share: chilled ready meals, sides and meat substitutes – value sales – brand owners
- Market share: chilled ready meals, sides and meat substitutes – volume sales – brand owners
- Market share: frozen ready meals and others – value sales – brands
- Market share: frozen ready meals and others – volume sales – brands
- Market share: frozen ready meals, sides and other meal components – value sales – brand owners
- Market share: frozen ready meals, sides and other meal components – volume sales – brand owners
- Market share: ambient ready meals, snack pots and noodles – value sales – brands
- Market share: ambient ready meals, snack pots and noodles – volume sales – brands
- Market share: ambient ready meals, snack pots and noodles – value sales – brand owners
- Market share: ambient ready meals, snack pots and noodles – volume sales – brand owners
- Market drivers – food inflation
- Graph 7: CPI inflation for ready-made meals, vegetables/potatoes, poultry and all food, 2021-26
- The consumer
- Consumer research questions
- Consumer research methodology – EMEA
- UK: generation groups
- Other data source methodologies
- Mintel Spark
- Abbreviations
"Premium meals offer a growth opportunity despite cautious consumer spending. Gut-healthy ready meals represent a substantial whitespace opportunity."
Alice Baker, Food and Drink Analyst
New variants are a key means to drive purchase of ready meals. Only 39% of buyers favour meals they’ve bought before. This is particularly needed to trade people up to premium meals, given widespread expectations for these to offer something tangibly different from standard versions
Continued pressure on household incomes in 2026 has impeded volume sales of ready meals and other prepared products by favouring scratch cooking. Consumer spending remaining cautious in 2027 will continue to curb sales. However, premium ready meals remain a key area for investment, given their scope to unlock spend as an alternative to going out.
Gut-healthy ready meals hold substantial untapped potential. Near absent in the category, these appeal to 77% of current eaters and 34% of people who do not currently eat ready meals, confirming the opportunity for the category to capitalise on the wider gut health trend.
This Report Looks at the Following Areas:
- Patterns in usage of ready meals and key demographic groups
- Retail value and volume sales performance of ready meals, sides, meat substitutes and selected other meal components over 2021-26, and forecast for 2026-31
- Whitespace potential in gut health-supporting ready meals, given strong consumer interest and limited current availability
- Factors influencing purchase of ready meals, including the limited appeal of familiar dishes and the related continued need for novelty in the category
- Consumer views of plastic vs cardboard packaging, and the need for the industry to act on concerns over contamination from plastic packaging
- Trends in launch activity in the ready meals category, and opportunities for further innovation
Market Definitions
The consumer research for this Report examines chilled, frozen and shelf-stable ready meals sold through the grocery retail channel. This includes complete meals such as spaghetti Bolognese and curry with rice. It also includes part meals/meal centres to which the consumer may, but need not, add items such as vegetables, pasta or rice, such as chicken tikka or beef casserole.
The market size for this report includes chilled and frozen ready meals, side dishes, prepared vegetables/potatoes, meat substitutes and selected other meal components, such as pies/pastries and soup sold through the grocery retail channel. Sales data for ambient ready meals, noodles and instant snack pots is available in the Appendix, but is not included in the market size and forecast.
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