Changing meal habits are reshaping demand across the food market, especially for products designed for quick, flexible and convenient consumption. The growth of food-to-go and ready-to-eat products is driven by more fragmented routines, less regular daily schedules and a greater willingness to replace home-prepared meals with ready-made, accessible solutions perceived as reliable.
Food-to-go, ready-to-eat and ready-to-heat products respond to the same broader need: meal solutions that are easy to buy, carry, store and consume in different situations. Their value no longer depends only on convenience, but also on the ability to offer a complete meal or snack suited to different consumption occasions.
Retail vs foodservice
This shift is clearly reflected in "The State of Grocery Retail Europe 2026", the report by McKinsey and EuroCommerce. In Europe, foodservice grew by 6.8% between 2022 and 2025, outpacing grocery, which grew by 4.8% over the same period. Demand is driven especially by younger consumers: 47% of Gen Z and 40% of Millennials consume food-to-go at least once a week. In addition, 82% of Gen Z consume ready-to-eat or ready-to-heat products at least once a month.
One of the most interesting aspects is that the boundary between retail and foodservice is becoming increasingly blurred. Supermarkets, convenience stores, railway stations, airports, service areas, bars, takeaway outlets and delivery platforms are targeting similar consumption occasions, often with products that are very close to one another: refrigerated ready meals, salads, bowls, sandwiches, focaccia, savory snacks, sweet and savory bakery products, single portions, ready-to-heat solutions and complete meal options.
Responding to changing needs
For a long time, ready-to-eat products were seen mainly as a functional response to lack of time. Today, this interpretation is only partial. Consumers are not just looking for something quick, but a solution that fits a specific occasion: lunch at the office, a break during a journey, a quick dinner at home, a light meal before travelling, a meal-replacement snack, individual consumption or sharing in informal settings.
This evolution changes how producers and distributors should assess products, focusing on the consumer need they address, the sales channels where they are most likely to succeed and the role they can play within the assortment.
A flavorful salad, a protein bowl, a filled focaccia, a refrigerated ready meal or a single-portion product no longer competes only with products in the same category. It may also compete with a quick lunch at a cafe, restaurant takeaway, delivery, the supermarket deli counter or a snack bought at a station. For this reason, product development should start from the consumption occasion, considering recipe, format, presentation and sales channel.
Retail moves into foodservice territory
According to McKinsey, retailers are trying to capture a larger share of the growth in out-of-home consumption through integrated foodservice, coffee concepts, deli counters, hot food offers and more visible, accessible ready-to-eat assortments. Products designed for immediate consumption in supermarkets are growing faster than grocery overall, with growth of around 7%. Retailers' share of foods for immediate consumption rose from 11.6% in the second quarter of 2023 to 12.6% in the second quarter of 2025.
This figure matters because it points to a transformation of the store itself. The supermarket remains a place for household grocery shopping, but it can also become a destination for a quick meal. The same applies to convenience stores, which are working on perceived quality, freshness, variety and cleanliness to strengthen their credibility as a foodservice channel.
For producers, this trend opens up interesting opportunities. Companies producing ready meals, bakery products, savory snacks, refrigerated products, single-portion desserts or counter-ready solutions can develop dedicated lines for hybrid channels, where products must be practical for retail while also being suitable for consumption in foodservice environments.
Store visits are becoming faster and more frequent
Another element to consider is the change in shopping behavior. An analysis published by Too Good To Go on changing foot traffic patterns in food retail shows that consumers are making more frequent visits, with smaller baskets and shorter shopping times. In 2025, grocery visits lasting less than 15 minutes exceeded 40%, compared with 37.9% in 2022. This means that many purchasing decisions take place very quickly, in contexts where product visibility, clarity and immediacy become decisive.
For ready-to-eat and food-to-go products, consumers need to understand quickly what they are buying, when they can consume it, how filling it is, whether it is suitable as a meal or snack, how it should be stored and whether it can be eaten immediately or after brief heating.
Packaging therefore plays a key role: it must protect the product, ensure safety and shelf life, make transport easier and communicate taste, ingredients, portion size, consumption method and overall quality at a glance. In high-turnover channels, unclear communication can reduce conversion even when the product itself is strong.
Quality, health and convenience need to work together
Younger generations are paying greater attention to ingredients, transparency and nutritional value, even in the most convenient products. NielsenIQ data presented by the National Association of Convenience Stores indicate that Gen Z pays close attention to snack choices, while Gen Alpha's purchases are often mediated by parents, with a focus on simple ingredients, smaller formats, functional benefits and label transparency.
This trend is also relevant for ready meals, savory snacks and food-to-go products. A ready-made solution must be appealing and aligned with the expectations of consumers looking for convenience, while avoiding the perception of being overly processed or poorly crafted.
For producers, this means focusing on several concrete criteria: recognizable ingredients, more balanced nutritional profiles, well-calibrated portions, easy-to-understand recipes, familiar flavors with distinctive elements, appealing taste and greater attention to visual quality. The product must be suitable for immediate consumption, but also deliver enough perceived quality to support its price point.
Opportunities for producers and distributors
For producers, food-to-go and ready-to-eat open opportunities across several categories. The most interesting include refrigerated ready meals, premium ready-to-heat products, savory bakery items, sandwiches and focaccia, bowls, complete salads, protein snacks, sweet single portions, on-the-go breakfast products and solutions for aperitifs or lunch breaks.
A product designed for these channels must be developed with shelf life, logistics, display, ease of service, speed of consumption and operator margins in mind. A recipe that works from a culinary point of view may perform poorly if it does not withstand transport, loses visual quality in the refrigerated counter or requires procedures that are too complex for the point of sale.
For distributors, the value lies in the ability to build targeted assortments for different professional customers. A convenience store near offices will have different needs from a railway station, an airport, an urban supermarket, a cafe or a retail outlet in a tourist area. Consumption times, acceptable price points, expected rotation, the need for hot or cold products and the importance of portability all change from one channel to another.
Travel retail, stations and convenience stores: high-potential channels
Mobility-related channels are especially interesting for food-to-go. Railway stations, airports, service areas and urban stores reach consumers looking for products that are easy to choose, carry and consume.
For this reason, the most suitable products are those that immediately communicate their function: light meal, filling snack, breakfast solution, sweet break, savory option, healthier alternative or premium choice. Temperature management is also essential: refrigerated products, ready-to-heat solutions and ambient products require different supply chains and positioning strategies.
Savory bakery items such as focaccia, filled breads and handheld baked products, along with pasta and rice salads, regional recipes reinterpreted in practical formats, premium savory snacks and sweet single portions, can all find space if they are adapted to the channel's needs. This means going beyond simply placing a traditional product in single-portion packaging and designing it around consumption occasion, transport, shelf life, display and communication.
Foodservice and retail compete, but can also converge
The growth of ready-to-eat products creates more direct competition between retail and foodservice, but it also opens up new forms of collaboration. Some products may be developed for retail and later enter foodservice as operational bases. Others may originate from foodservice recipes and become ready-made references for refrigerated counters or convenience channels.
For cafes and quick-service operators, fresh ready meals and ready-to-eat products can help expand the offer without adding complexity to the kitchen. For retail, they can increase visit frequency, basket value and differentiation from competitors. For suppliers, this convergence makes it possible to offer the same product families to different channels, with adaptations in format, service and packaging.
The operational aspect remains central, as products must be easy to manage, including by non-specialized staff, provide simple instructions, ensure consistent quality and help reduce waste.
What to assess before adding a product to the assortment
For buyers, importers and distributors, the selection of ready-to-eat and food-to-go products should go beyond the novelty of the offer, taking into account several factors that affect daily operations and positioning strategy. Some questions can help assess commercial potential:
- Does the product meet a specific consumption need, such as breakfast, lunch break, snack, quick dinner or travel?
- Does it maintain visual and sensory quality during display?
- Is the packaging easy to carry and open?
- Is the portion consistent with the price and usage occasion?
- Does the shelf life allow efficient stock management?
These aspects are also particularly important for companies looking to export. International consumers may not be familiar with a recipe, format or typical ingredient. Communication must therefore make the product accessible without weakening its identity.
Convenience and quality must coexist
Ready-to-eat and food-to-go are becoming one of the areas where supermarkets and foodservice meet most clearly. The growth of out-of-home consumption, the reduction in time spent cooking, faster store visits and the search for convenient solutions are creating new opportunities for the entire supply chain.
Perceived quality also depends on ingredients: with growing aversion to ultra-processed foods, ready-to-eat and food-to-go solutions need to communicate greater transparency, simplicity and care in formulation.
For companies, the priority is to offer products designed from the outset for specific consumption moments, channels and realistic operating conditions. For distributors, retailers and foodservice operators, it becomes important to build clear assortments that provide variety while also simplifying choice, combining quality, practicality, price and sales volumes in line with their business objectives.
