Cooking ingredients and meals remains overwhelmingly a physical retail-based industry. E-commerce is gaining but at a slower rate than before as meal kits sales growth slows. Affordability-focused physical retail is the key story, with channels such as discounters making big gains.

The world’s largest packaged foods companies are entering a period of heightened focus on their most promising brands and categories. This has involved a willingness to cut SKU counts, sell off iconic brands, or even split apart entirely. Long-term market shifts will continue to push companies in this direction, meaning the future of packaged food is a more fragmented one than it is today.

Value sales of cooking ingredients and meals rose in current terms in Austria in 2025. Consumer interest in and demand for cooking ingredients and meals remains high. Value growth was attributable to slight growth in volume sales on the one hand, and an increase in average unit prices on the other. The most prominent trend that strongly shaped demand for cooking ingredients and meals was a growing consumer focus on convenience.

In 2025, cooking ingredients and meals in Brazil grew primarily through resilient volume, supported by more affordable prices following post-inflation stabilisation. Consumers traded down, embraced bulk formats, and sought healthier options, driving demand for protein-enriched, clean-label, and low-sodium products. Innovation and reformulation accelerated across edible oils, sauces, ready meals, and sweet spreads, aligning with wellness trends while maintaining affordability.

The rise of Gen Alpha in Asia is redefining consumer behaviour, with a focus on ultra-convenience, digital integration, and health and wellbeing, creating opportunities for brands to innovate and capture a significant share of the region's growing consumer market, worth over USD10 trillion.

In 2025, value sales of cooking ingredients and meals in Hong Kong grew steadily, driven by a continued shift towards home cooking during high living costs and expensive dining out. Health and wellness trends were shaping product innovation, with functional ready meals, healthier sauces, and natural spreads gaining traction, while premiumisation and flavour diversification supported category resilience. Private label emerged as a key growth driver, competing with established brands through broad

In 2025, cooking ingredients and meals in Taiwan saw moderate volume growth in both retail and foodservice in 2024, and slightly slower value growth than in the previous year of the review period.

Cooking ingredients and meals in Thailand posted growth in both current value and volume terms in 2025, supported by a shift back to home cooking as foodservice became less affordable. Price sensitivity strengthened, lifting promotion-driven purchasing and accelerating uptake of private label as consumers sought credible lower-cost options across core categories. At the same time, time-poor urban households continued to support demand for ready meals and recipe sauces, reinforcing convenience as

Cooking ingredients and meals in India recorded double-digit current value growth in 2025, driven by price-led gains in edible oils, steady demand for herbs and spices anchored in home cooking, and evolving habits supporting table sauces and sweet spreads. Edible oils remained central but faced sustained cost pressure due to import dependence and higher procurement prices. Health and nutrition considerations increasingly influenced choices, encouraging consumers to prioritise oils with perceived

Growth of cooking ingredients and meals in Iraq in 2025 is primarily driven by urbanisation, increased consumer reliance on the market, and a market economy that encourages greater consumption despite the country’s economic challenges.

Cooking ingredients and staples began to recover in 2025, despite a very challenging year in 2024 for many businesses. During 2024, numerous farms in the south of the country were destroyed as the ongoing Israel-Hamas war spilled over into Lebanon, severely affecting Lebanese businesses near the border. Olive oil producers were particularly hard hit, with bombing attacks destroying olive groves, production facilities, and storage infrastructure. This significantly reduced olive oil availability

Busier lifestyles are boosting demand for cooking ingredients and meals in Tunisia, as urban, young, working consumers increasingly prioritise convenience and time-saving solutions that are compatible with their hectic schedules. Health and wellness is an emerging trend, but affordability remains a key consideration, with promotions and discounts continuing to influence purchasing decisions. Small local grocers remains the dominant channel, while discounter Aziza is attracting cost-conscious sho

Retail value sales growth of cooking ingredients and meals thanks to increased health awareness

It is a tumultuous time for the world’s leading cooking ingredients and meals company. Market leader Kraft Heinz is preparing to split into two, while many other leading companies look to offload underperforming brands and shift their focus. All are trying to deal with wider pressures such as slow volume growth and consumers shifting towards private label.

This report bring together results from Euromonitor’s Voice of the Industry Survey, fielded in March and October 2025, which tracks sales performance and expectation, innovation initiatives, digital trends and technology investment. It highlights insights from industry professionals to understand short- and long-term business priorities and growth strategies.

The cooking ingredients market in Ghana is a dynamic sector, driven by population growth, urbanisation and shifting consumer lifestyles. Rising female workforce participation and growing time pressures are further boosting demand for quick and easy meal ingredients. Health consciousness, packaging innovation and intensifying price competition are increasingly shaping consumer preferences. Local sourcing, fortification and product diversification continue to fuel competition. Overall, the market

Although retail current value sales of cooking ingredients and meals remained strong in 2025, growth moderated. This was largely attributable to a weaker performance in edible oils, which make up the largest share of the category. Within edible oils, palm oil continued to dominate retail value sales, and the government is seeking to reduce the country’s reliance on imported edible oils by implementing measures aimed at increasing local production. Meanwhile, cooking ingredients and meals offerin

Cooking ingredients and meals in Uganda performed well in 2025, supported by urbanisation, population growth, improving economic conditions and wider distribution. Rising prices shaped demand, as consumers prioritised lower-priced options, including unpackaged. Meanwhile, the government continued to invest in local production, especially in edible oils, to offer more affordable options to local consumers. However, many product types remained expensive and lacked consumer awareness or suffered fr

Sales of cooking ingredients and meals grew in 2025 driven by the influx of tourists to Jordan over the first quarter of the year. Jordan's tourism sector experienced a strong recovery, with a 19% increase in international visitor arrivals during the first four months of 2025 compared to the same period in the previous year. The country welcomed over 2.1 million international visitors between January and April 2025. However, despite a rosy picture for the first part of 2025, the impact on cookin

Retail value sales of cooking ingredients and meals increased in 2025. This growth was driven by rising health and wellness awareness, which boosted demand for edible oils and healthier variants of sauces, dips, and condiments. Additionally, the growing need for convenience, spurred by an expanding working population, supported the rise of categories, such as meals and soups. Ready-to-eat options prepared at home, such as ready meals, gained popularity as consumers increasingly sought quick, pra

In 2025 cooking ingredients and meals sales are set to witness positive growth as, despite economic challenges, including global inflation and restrictions on expat entries, modern retail channels continued expanding. Growing concern over high obesity rates is stimulating some consumers into adopting healthier eating habits, including eating less overall. However, healthier cooking ingredients and meals tend to have higher prices, meaning such products are only popular among more affluent consum

In the Philippines, cooking ingredients and meals delivered stable retail value growth in 2025, while volume trends were more muted as inflation kept shoppers focused on core essentials. Edible oils remained the largest category by value, with modest growth driven more by pricing and selective trading up, while sauces, dips and condiments expanded through a broader offer that blended local flavours with convenience-led formats. Health positioning strengthened, reflected in faster value growth fo

The cooking ingredients and meals industry has returned to a level of stability after years of significant volatility. Growth over 2025-2030 is predicted to be slow but steady, shaped by the increasing importance of emerging markets, consumer shifts towards affordably-positioned products and channels, and a changing competitive landscape.

Robust economic growth is supporting an expanding middle class in Côte d’Ivoire, underpinning strong growth in demand for cooking ingredients and meals in 2025. Middle-class consumers, who are typically active and time-poor, are increasingly seeking convenient, quick and balanced meal solutions. Meanwhile, the rising prevalence of hypertension and diabetes is prompting some manufacturers to reformulate their recipes to meet growing demand for healthier options.