Of course, the lasagna, with the meat sauce cooking for an entire morning and the pulled puff pastry by hand, always have their own because, but for this there is the restaurant or grandmother who retains the recipes of the past. Everyday life, on the other hand, is the “zero bumper” cuisine, ready in a few minutes, at low cost and above all that allows you to keep food in the fridge or in the pantry for a long time. The fact is that there is less and less time – and even less desire to get in the kitchen – and in the moments free from work, you prefer to leave the house. The ritual of the family gathered around the set table survives only in the advertisements of the pasta but more as a stereotype of the Italian lifestyle, easy to export abroad, than as a photograph of reality. And then, let’s speak clearly, while until a couple of generations a woman, even if worker, passed part of her time in the kitchen (the mothers said that the man should be taken by the throat), now he is consumed between beauticians and gyms. While equality in domestic tasks is expressed, for most men, rather than in the delicacies (except the marginal cases of real passions for the stove), in the ability to identify the supermarket that ready dish that evokes the memory of their parents but has the speed of preparation in addition. Then there is the army of singles for which to cook a complete meal can be less convenient or motivating. The demand for this sector are above all the young people, the Z generation, but also in the population later with the years and even among the elderly, especially those left alone who are little familiar with the pans, the prejudice that the ready meal is lower in quality is being prepared with their own hands is being exceeded. Moreover, the season of Covid in which an army of Italians returned to try his hand at egg and flour doughs, the daily frenzy has resumed the upper hand and the recipes of the grandmother have returned to the drawers.
Many producers are investing in health options, with fresh ingredients, balanced from a nutritional point of view and without artificial additives and preservatives to answer the growing question of well -being. For those who are also looking for an ecological or ethical implication in the choices of consumption, the purchase of single portions can help reduce food waste.
To testify to the growing trend there are sales numbers. According to the data of the Circana Research Company, the retail sector Ready to eat It represents 3.5 percent of the FoodService market in Italy, with a value of 2.5 billion euros. In 2024 it saw a growth of 15.3 percent compared to 2017. As explained by the study, the customer’s choices are no longer based exclusively on the type of exercise but on factors such as comfort, price and experience. Elements that make supermarkets and their ready meals, once considered a secondary alternative, real competitors of bars and restaurants.
Just think that the market share of traditional catering It fell from 79 percent in 2021 to 77 in 2024, while non -commercial channels such as retail, automatic distributors, went from 21 to 23 percent. With the spread of Ready to eatmore and more supermarkets have equipped themselves to offer on -site catering services. “It is a phenomenon that only partially affects the most traditional catering,” says Luciano Sbraga, director of the Fipe Confcommercio Study Center. «It is true that we record a drop in visits for about 1 percent lunch, even if compared to the value there is growth. But if we consider all the opportunities for consumption, from breakfast to dinner, our data are comforting ». One more reason, Fipe underlines, in order not to see how a threat of the refreshment points of the large retailers. The commercial network is adapting to changes in consumption, but it is not about unfair competition, provided that the rules of the market are respected.
“The consumption of ready meals is not only extra domestic, but also at home,” he explains to Panorama The commercial director of Gastronomica Roscio, Francesco Bussichella, among the leaders in the production of ready dishes. The most requested product, explains the manager, is the Bolognese lasagna, “which has become the symbol of Italian cuisine, as was for frozen pizza in the past. This is valid internationally but also in our country. In general, the first courses are the masters. So cannelloni, parmesan of aubergines and risotto. Cereal salads, cold pastes, couscous are increasing ».
The ready dish also offers the opportunity to approach other gastronomic cultures. This is the case of the SaikeBons, the now well -known instant Noodles, a type of pasta of Chinese origin, adapted by the Japanese. «The second courses are less requested. We find roasts, braised in slices and chicken and beef morsels with contours of polenta, mushrooms and potatoes. There are more dishes responsible for tradition but also companies that work on dietary, on balanced dishes ».
DOCFOODY offers food plans with ready -made dishes studied by doctors And made by chefs, suitable for different health needs: there is the prevention diet, the hypocaloric one, the one for the fat liver and for diabetics. In Milan, the proposals of Erbert, the Italian chain dedicated to healthy nutrition, with an operational laboratory in the Lombard capital where a team of experts, including chefs and nutritionists, works to reinterpret common dishes in lighter and healthier versions go. So with fewer rooms (integrated with spices to enhance the flavor), less fat, less sugars and steam cooking and plate, completely avoiding fries.
“In some European supermarket chains, in the Delhaize in Belgium and in the jumbo in Holland, the consumer has the opportunity to buy a sort of kit, a box in which he finds all the ingredients to make a single -dose recipe. In this way he must not buy more products, perhaps with the risk that they must be thrown away, “says Bussichella. A solution that also has the ethical value of contributing to the fight against food waste. The manager explains that the type of consumer of the Ready to eat It is essentially young, but now transversal in the big cities of northern Italy, especially in Milan. “In the South the phenomenon still struggles to establish itself but is in advance,” comments the manager.
The challenge in the sector is the speed in cooking. Which means being able to bring a plate of pesto pasta into three minutes to the table. Possible? Arnaboldi, a company specialized in dishydrated and freeze-dried ready-made dishes, added to the classic envelopes of risotto and pasta to prepare on the stove in 10-15 minutes, an even faster line, intended for young people: instant products, ready in 2-3 minutes, packaged in single-portion. And there are also soufflé. To the package just add milk or sparkling water, put them in the microwave and after two or three minutes, they are ready.
Even the greedy ones have ample choice. Molino Rossetto has launched the zero line on the market, bangs, which allow, in a few minutes, without the need for scales, adding only milk and oil, to make muffins, pancakes and crepes. And for the doses a spoon is enough. The packs of ready dishes, it is Surpefluo to say, they are absolutely environmentally friendly.
Some chefs with Michelin star also ventured on the ready to eat. This is the case of Lorenzo Cogo, who, after closing his restaurant, launched a line of high quality ready -made soups called “Locomeal” with the aim of bringing gourmet cuisine in everyday life. These are something more than simple soups, they are real nutrients, rich in protein. They are ready in just three minutes in the microwave or five in the stove, just add the water. It will not be the mother’s lasagna, but you approach it.
