Canned meals and meats: A market full of beans!

In an era of luxury and organic ready meals by all rights the canned meals market should be just about dead and buried. But latest research from MINTEL finds the market for cold canned meats such as Spam and PEK hotting up and innovation in baked beans putting the wind back into the market’s sales. In 2005 the market for baked beans stood at some £265 million, up an impressive 13% since 2001, with the market expected to jump a further 5% this year alone, taking value sales to £278 million. One important factor behind the growth is the fact that baked bean manufacturers have been able to raise prices to allow value to grow ahead of volume. This has not always been the case in the past, particularly during the baked bean price war of 1996 when a can of supermarket beans fell to as low as 4p. What is more, the market’s growth looks set to be more than just a flash in the pan, with a 30% rise anticipated in value over the next five years (2006 – 2011) taking sales to some £360 million.