The production of ready meals is increasing in Germany
Pasta dishes in particular are produced in large quantities
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More and more ready meals are being produced in Germany. 1.7 million tons of ready meals worth 5.9 billion euros were produced in Germany in 2024, according to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on the occasion of the International Green Week. Five years earlier, the figure was 1.4 million tons of ready meals worth 4.1 billion euros. This represents an increase in volume of a quarter (25.6%) in 2024 compared to 2019. In terms of value, production increased by 45.4% in nominal terms (not price-adjusted) over the same period.
The increase in the production of ready meals continued in 2025: In the first three quarters, ready meals worth €4.5 billion were produced, an increase of 2.8% in nominal terms compared to the same period of the previous year (Q1 to Q3 2024: €4.4 billion). Volumes are not available for the first three quarters of 2025.
Production of pasta dishes with the largest increase in a five-year comparison
Pasta dishes in particular were produced in significantly larger quantities: Here, there was an increase of 56.4% from 345,000 tons in 2019 to 539,000 tons in 2024. The value of finished pasta dishes produced increased from €643 million to €957 million in the same period - a nominal increase of 48.9%. There was also a significant increase in meat dishes: in terms of volume, production grew by 43.2% from 221,000 tons in 2019 to 316,000 tons in 2024. The increase in value over the same period was even higher at a nominal 71.3%. (2019: 907.5 million euros; 2024: 1.6 billion euros). At 197,000 tons, more vegetable ready meals were also produced in 2024 (+7.2%) than in 2019 (183,000 tons). In terms of value, production increased even more significantly with a rise of 54.3% to 549 million euros. The only decrease in production was in the quantity of fish dishes, which fell from 24,000 tons to 22,000 tons (-7.2%). In contrast, the value of fish dishes produced increased by a nominal 7.9% in a five-year comparison: from 193 million euros to 208 million euros.
Time spent on food preparation has hardly changed in ten years
Even though the range of ready meals on offer has increased, people in Germany do not spend any less time preparing food than they used to. On average, people aged 10 and over in Germany spend 41 minutes a day preparing meals and the associated kitchen work, according to the 2022 Time Use Survey. Ten years earlier, the average time was almost identical (40 minutes). The difference between the sexes is still significant: while girls and women spent an average of 53 minutes a day cooking, baking, setting the table and washing dishes in 2022, boys and men spent 29 minutes a day. Ten years earlier, however, the gender difference was greater: back then, women and girls spent an average of 55 minutes a day preparing food, while boys and men spent less than half as much time (24 minutes).
Note: This article has been translated using a computer system without human intervention. LUMITOS offers these automatic translations to present a wider range of current news. Since this article has been translated with automatic translation, it is possible that it contains errors in vocabulary, syntax or grammar. The original article in German can be found here.
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