The Kraft Heinz Company is going back to basics in a bid to pump up its sales.
The company is reinventing the once-popular kitchen mainstay that also got a boost during the pandemic: the frozen dinner. Kraft Heinz unveiled its new frozen line Homebake 425°/:30 on Wednesday, CNN Business reported.
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Homebake, which is available at retailers in the Midwest with plans to expand in the coming months, boasts 15 items, including five mains, five starchy sides and five vegetables — from chicken parmesan to cheesy rice. In fact, cheese is a common ingredient across the line, which VP of disruptive innovation at Kraft Heinz Alan Kleinerman admits isn’t “health-forward.”
But being healthful isn’t the point — attracting customers with convenient-to-prepare comfort foods is.
Fortunately for Kraft Heinz, millennials and Gen Z are more open to frozen meals than older generations anyway: According to a 2021 Deloitte survey, 51% of those aged 18-34 consider frozen meat just as good as fresh, compared to 29% of those 55 and over.
In testing the new line, Kraft Heinz discovered that its customers want access to quick meals that would take them a lot of time and effort to make from scratch themselves — hence why a well-reviewed honey BBQ chicken didn’t make the cut.
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“‘I can take some chicken breasts, I can pour some barbecue sauce on it, stick it in the oven. That’s easy,'” customers said, Kleinerman told CNN. “It didn’t have that value-add,” he said, calling the insight “really important.”