Appetite builds for packaged fresh food

Packaged fresh food items are popular with single people and working couples due to convenience and the nutritional value they contain. / Courtesy of Shout Waggner Edstrom

Packaged fresh-food items are flying off shop shelves as single-person households and working couples rise as major spenders.

Ready-made food that could be eaten after a couple minutes in a microwave has always been popular among busy consumers.

But while people still want to save the time and hassle of cooking, they have become more health conscious.

Items that are now popular include skinned and filleted fish and washed and peeled fruit and vegetables.

According a Norwegian Seafood Council survey of 723 people in their 20s to 50s, 89 percent said they had bought packaged filleted fish and 77 percent said they did so because it was more convenient.

Retailers are now stocking up on these items to meet demand.

They have also reduced the amount of groceries sold in bulk.