EUROPE 

With consumers unable to shop through their regular channels, while simultaneously needing to make more meals at home, the interest in meal solutions surged, making eating at home the new eating out experience. In Europe, the home cooking trend has been gaining traction, as consumers shift their behaviors and start spending more time in their kitchens and experiment with new cooking skills. To answer the rising interest and growth in the category, several European retailers have started to augment their Private Brand offer by adding a curated range of products that mirror restaurant-quality or traditional home-style dishes, in the form of meal kits or ready meals, catering to consumers that opt for such solutions instead of dining-out. Moving forward, Private Brands have the opportunity to continue being a key driver in the category, allowing retailers to gain relevance by offering meaningful and differentiated solutions to consumers. 

SOUTH AFRICA

Quick meal solutions have gained traction in South Africa over the past few years, with consumers looking for convenience. COVID-19 lockdowns resulted in consumers cooking at home and being more involved in the cooking process, while still looking for easy ways to prepare meals. Quick meal solutions are not only meal kits or prepared meals; they can also be a Promotional mechanism. This mechanism poses an excellent opportunity for retailers to excite customers and drive sales, specifically on Private Brands as a combo-sale tool. Retailers can create 'quick meal solution' promotions, where consumers buy participating products, made up of 2 - 4 components, which creates a full meal. This can be supported by having a destination in-store, signage at the point-of-sale, cross­merchandising, and call-outs such as: 'dinner for 4', 'meal in 30 mins', ' Buy 3 save $2' and meal cards. As these meal options are limitless, retailers have ample opportunity to excite their customers.  

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