Supermarkets increase sales of prepared meals by 50%

It's no longer enough to simply offer ingredients. For today's consumers, it's even better if you offer pre-made, ready-to-eat food. Supermarkets have found a very promising new line of business in prepared meals and takeout. What was once a minority option, almost reserved for celebrations where cooking wasn't desired, is now increasingly popular.

Thus, these ready-to-eat lines have seen a 49% growth in value for supermarkets and hypermarkets over the last three years, according to data from Worldpanel by Numerator. Along these lines, the specialized consultancy Circana indicates that 17% of Spanish food spending is dedicated to these items, both in convenience stores and supermarkets. Food spending in Spain reached €42.517 billion last year, representing a 2% growth compared to 2023.

The main motivation for customers when choosing these products, according to the Worldpanel report, is above all convenience or comfort over pleasure and health. This reason is behind one in four food choices, the consultancy points out. Veronika Khurshudyan, Director of Client Research at Worldpanel by Numerator, explains in the study that "the question is no longer where we eat, but how and why we choose each format. And this is where convenience takes center stage." Consumers "no longer decide solely on the basis of category, point of sale, or channel, but also on the here and now, to meet a need, and any option is eligible to satisfy it at a given moment," she points out.

In this context, Juan Roig, president of Mercadona, predicted in his latest results presentation that "kitchens will disappear by the middle of the 21st century, and we are preparing for it." Whether it's a self-fulfilling omen or a self-fulfilling prophecy, the truth is that Mercadona began its commitment to this business in 2018. By the end of 2024, it had already implemented ready-made dishes sections in 1,200 supermarkets in its Spanish network, almost 75% of the total, and in the 60 it has in Portugal, a line with which they are already making money, as Roig pointed out in the same presentation.

Mercadona now competes with McDonald's in hamburger consumption.

Nowadays, practically all food distribution chains (Alcampo, Carrefour, Dia) offer some line of takeaway food, with El Corte Inglés being the oldest (it has been doing so since 1979).

The bulk of these dishes, around 80%, are consumed within homes. However, Numerator also notes that their consumption outside the home is growing strongly, in double digits, with a 15% increase in the number of times they are consumed and a 29% increase in sales by value, as of April 2025, compared to the same month last year. Consumption occasions for these same products within the home, on the other hand, are growing by 12%.

The Numerator report notes that this phenomenon is benefiting from "an increase in customer spending toward these new channels," although some of this spending is being transferred from other "existing channels, primarily fast-food restaurants," they point out.

Circana believes, however, that this trend is affecting the market share of both commercial restaurants—that is, restaurants with table service, especially the daily menu—and restaurants without table service and tapas bars. In fact, in this environment where convenience is key to consumer behavior, the consulting firm's data indicates that the market share of commercial restaurants has decreased from 79% in 2021 to 77% in 2024. At the same time, other channels, including prepared food lines, have registered significant growth, increasing their share from 21% to 23% over the same period.

In 2024, 17% of restaurant spending was dedicated to these lines in supermarkets and convenience stores.

A fine line currently separates food service from supermarket shelves, and Numerator uses the hamburger as an example. According to the analysis, each Spaniard ate an average of 18 hamburgers last year, a 5% increase. Of all hamburger consumption occasions, 19.5% were at a major player in this sector, such as McDonald's. But Mercadona isn't far behind, and now exceeds 10% of hamburger consumption occasions. This percentage includes both those sold pre-prepared on its shelves in the ready-to-eat section and those prepared by purchasing the ingredients separately. "Convenience is gaining ground, and many in the industry are focused on how to best satisfy it," adds Veronika Khurshudyan.