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Frozen food cures fatigue brought about by home cooking
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Friday, 26 March, 2021, 15 : 00 PM [IST]
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Pawan Raj Kumar
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There are three kinds of people who cook. One, those who cook for a living; two who cook to cook and feed their families; three who cook to live but don't really want to spend much time in the kitchen. If you are the third variety, chances are that you have home cooking fatigue already and frozen food products are for you.
The lockdown last year made a lot of us home chefs and some of us did a good job, especially those who were of the first and the second kinds. However, most of us realised that cooking was not really our ‘wok of life'. We got tired of trying new recipes and cooking from scratch. On top of that craving for delicious food, especially street food, grew manifolds as access to many outlets continued to be restricted.
Frozen food came to the rescue. Frozen ready to eat momos saw a surge of 20 times in demand and others followed. Haldiram pani puri, ITC dahi kabab, ID Foods parota all become instant hits.
The fatigued reluctant cook could see the cure and a very tasty one. Indian consumers could see the benefits of stocking up on frozen food as it was not only cheaper and convenient but also very tasty. Covid had some positive impacts and acceptance of frozen food is definitely one of them.
While freezing food is one of the oldest ways of preserving food it is the modern technology of blast freezing that has made it much more reliable. World over also it is being preferred to the use of artificial preservatives that are considered harmful to health in the long run. Indian consumers seem to have finally accepted it. And why not? There are so many benefits, like:
? Consistent and superior taste. Most of the food companies employ food technologists and chefs to create recipes and monitor them for best results.
? Hygienic and trustworthy cooking conditions. All large brands take care of the hygiene standards and are well audited.
? Lower cost as compared to eating out or even ordering from a restaurant. Economies of scale definitely play their roles here.
? Convenience of storing and cooking any time. Instant gratification is finally achieved as the food can get ready in minutes. Yes faster than getting it delivered through the aggregators.
? Comfort of using your own oil, utensils and gadgets. Most of these food items come in ready to cook formats allowing consumers to do their last bit of cooking and heating. With so much focus on health the consumers feel comfortable using their own preferred oil as a cooking medium.
Frozen food has brought more comfort and convenience in the life of Indian consumers giving them the much needed break from cooking fatigue. There is a lot coming and this category is definitely here to stay.
(The author is co – founder of Hoipure)
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