Prepared foods, ready-to-eat foods and home meal replacement market

Convenience Stores, Retailers & Mass Merchandisers, Department Stores, Ready-to-Eat Dishes/Prepared Food Specialty Stores, and Drugstores

Phone questionnaires were conducted with ready-to-eat food companies that provide freshly prepared rice dishes and other foods. The most common response given to the increased sales was "price increase" (45.2%). This surpassed the response, "increased inquiries from clients" (41.9%). Additionally, 25.8% responded that "soaring material costs passed on to product prices." These results suggest that an increase in unit selling price, alongside increased sales volumes, contributed significantly to market growth.

Meanwhile, the domestic ready-to-eat food market is labor-intensive, due to the small-batch production and immediate delivery of various products. Therefore, rising labor costs and chronic labor shortages are pressing the industry to adopt machinery and automation.

Based on various data, this report highlights the external environments, analyzes market trends by product and sales channel, and examines major companies' business strategies, and provides market size forecasts from diverse viewpoints.  The report provides practical information that contributes to market entry and marketing strategies.  

I. Overall Trends of Prepared Food Market

1. Social Background
   1) Waning working (productive) age population
   2) Changes in population pyramids
2. Prepared Food & Rice Dishes Occupied in Annual Consumer Spending
   1) Transition in annual spending for food
   2) Changes in lifestyle
3. Spending Trends by Age Group
   1) Prepared food (deli, ready-to-eat food)
   2) Cooked staple food (Bento, Sushi, Onigiri, Savory    rolls)
   3) Deli/Ready-to-eat meals (frozen cooked food, salad, Hamburg steak, etc.)

II. Trends in Key Industries

1. Environmentally Friendly Food Containers and Packaging
2. Expansion of Health Conscious Foods
3. Expansion of Prepared Food Subscription Services Targeting Families with Small Children
4. Technologies to Freeze Food
5. National Initiatives to Create a Robot-Friendly Environment
6. Cooking Equipment and Plating Robots
7. Trends in the Number of Facilities Adopting Industrial Robots (2016–2024)
8. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System
9. Business Process Improvement Tools (Digitalized Reporting)
10. Number of Bento Shop Bankruptcies Hits All-Time High
11. Addressing Rising Packaging Material Costs Amid Rising Naphtha Prices
12. Support for the Food Industry Through the “Regional Future Strategy” and Its Ripple Effects on the Prepared Foods and Rice Markets
13. Challenges and Future Directions in the Prepared Foods and Ready-to-Eat Meals Market

III. Analysis and Perspectives of Prepared Food & Rice Dishes Market

1. Market Size Transition
2. Market Composition
3. Analysis of Market Growth Drivers and Barriers
4. Market Outlook for 2033
5. Market Trend Analysis by Product
   1) Daily Delivered Prepared Food and Rice Dishes
   2) Processed Prepared Food and Rice Dishes
6. End Market Trend Analysis
   1) Convenience Stores
   2) Retailers and Mass Merchandisers
   3) Department Stores
   4) Delicatessen
   5) Drugstore
   6) Restaurant Chains and Fast Food
   7) Food Trucks

IV. Business Strategy Analysis of Leading Companies

1. Business Development
2. Nationwide/Regional Development
3. Main Concept Designed, and Mainstay Products
4. New Product Development Trends
5. Production Trends, Safety & Sanitation Measures
6. Raw Material Procurement Status
7. Logistics
8. Sales Channel Trends
9. Challenges in Business Development
10. Future Business Strategy

V. Questionnaire Results

1. Respondent Attributes
2. Types of Daily-Delivered Prepared Foods and Cooked Rice Types

VI. Company Profiles

• Noteworthy Companies: 14 enterprises
• Prepared Food/Deli Companies: 3 enterprises
• Questionnaire Respondents: 28 enterprises

VII.  List of Major Companies in the Prepared Foods and Rice Dishes Market and Their Product Categories