Driven by rising urbanization and busy lifestyle of consumers, the Asia-Pacific (APAC) prepared meals sector is forecast to reach US$38.4bn by 2023. The APAC region is expected to record the fastest growth in both value and volume terms at compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) of 5.4% and 3.7% respectively, during 2018–2023, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

GlobalData’s report ‘Opportunities in the Asia-Pacific Prepared Meals Sector’, reveals that ready meals emerged as the largest category with a value share of 76.9% in 2018. The category is expected to register the fastest growth in both value and volume terms, during 2018–2023. As ready meals align well with time-starved consumers, it is likely to remain the most preferred prepared meal option in the near future.

The report identifies Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan as the high-potential countries based on GlobalData’s unique scoring system, which involves the risk-reward analysis derived from multiple metrics. These metrics include market size and growth assessment, and political, economic, social, and technological assessment of 19 major economies in the APAC region. It states that Japan was the largest market in the prepared meals sector in the APAC region, accounting for a value share of 64.1% in 2018.

Priyanka Jain, Consumer Analyst at GlobalData says: “Consumers in the APAC region lead hectic lifestyles. Moreover, long working hours and increasing participation of women in workforce is leaving them with little time to cook a meal from scratch. This is resulting in the growing demand for prepared meals, as these are ready to eat or quick to make.”

The consumption share of ready meals is anticipated to witness a rise across all high-potential countries except Taiwan during 2018–2023.

IMAGE FOR PUBLICATION – Please click this link for the chart

Nissin Food Holdings Co., LTD, Marumiya Corporation, Toyo Suisan Kaisha, Ltd., Nichirei, and Katokichi Co., Ltd. are the leading companies in the APAC prepared meals sector. None of these players have presence in the pizza category, while only Nissin Food Holdings Co.,LTD, and Toyo Suisan Kaisha, Ltd. are operating in the meal kits category. This offers opportunity for new players to enter these markets. Priyanka concludes: “With rising obesity and other lifestyle-related disorders such as cardiovascular diseases and type-2-diabetes in the APAC region, consumers are becoming more health conscious leading to an increase in demand for products with health & wellness claims such as ‘naturally healthy’, ‘sugar-free, and ‘gluten-free’. They are looking for healthier alternatives to prepared meals, which are generally perceived as unhealthy due to the presence of preservatives and excess saturated fats. To strengthen their position in the market, manufacturers need to re-launch their products with preservative free and fat free claims.”