Frozen food continues to grow
Total sales increase by 2.5 percent Per capita consumption rises to 51.6 kilograms
Frozen food products are continuing to grow. This is shown by the 2025 sales statistics of the Deutsches Tiefkühlinstitut e. V. (dti), which annually reports sales of frozen products in Germany as a whole and broken down into the food retail/home services (LEH/HD) and out-of-home market (AHM) sales markets.
Total sales of frozen food grew again in 2025, by 2.5% to a volume of 4.238 million tons (2024: 4.137 million tons). Frozen food sales in the food retail/hypermarket grew by 2.7% to 2.070 million tons in 2025 (2024: 2.017 million tons). Sales in the out-of-home market increased by 2.3% to 2.168 million tons in 2025 (2024: 2.12 million tons). Per capita consumption of frozen food rose again to a record 51.6 kg in 2025 (2024: 50.8 kg). Consumption per household now stands at 103.8 kg in 2025 (2024: 101.9 kg) - up 1.9 kg.
These are once again record results for frozen food in Germany
"In 2025, the frozen food market was once again able to hold its own despite the continuing tense economic and consumer situation," says Sabine Eichner, dti Managing Director. "However, there are clear changes in consumption among consumers: The trend is towards eating more at home. This development tends to favor sales in food retail and home services and slows down the upward trend in food service sales. Overall, the importance of fresh-frozen food in Germany continues to grow, both as an important support for everyday private nutrition and in overcoming the major challenges in the food service and communal catering sectors."
Food retail/home services: Sales increase of 2.7 percent
In the food retail/home services sales channel, frozen food sales will increase by 2.7% to 2.070 million tons in 2025 (2024: 2.017 million tons).
Frozen products for DIY cooking recorded growth of 1.8% in 2025. They therefore remained below the development in the breakfast & dessert (+ 4.9%) and ready meals (+ 2.9%) segments.
Within the "do-it-yourself cooking" category, the frozen vegetable product group was down (- 0.8% compared to 2024). In contrast, fish (+5.0%), potato products (+2.5%) and meat (+1.0%) increased. However, the growth in meat came exclusively from poultry, which is in vogue as a healthy and inexpensive protein. In the ready-to-eat product group, ready meals in particular saw strong growth of 4.7% compared to 2024. Plant-based alternative products stagnated at the previous year's level in 2025 and are still struggling. Following the slump in 2024, frozen baked goods recorded strong growth of 3.9%. This was mainly driven by frozen bread and rolls, which grew strongly by 6.8%. The small frozen fruit product group was the growth champion in 2025: it grew again by 12.0%.
dti CEO Eichner: "The spending restraint in the food service industry is reflected in increased sales in the food retail/HD sector: home catering, especially with ready meals, has continued to grow. The increasing use of air fryers in private households is also having a positive impact, opening up new potential for many frozen food segments: according to our frozen food trend barometer from June 2025, 41% of people in Germany already prepare frozen food using an air fryer. On the other hand, the ongoing global crisis is having a negative impact, with serious consequences for supply chains and energy prices and severely affecting the consumer climate in Germany. According to YouGov, the propensity to save was 18.7% in December 2025, the highest level since the 2008 financial crisis, and the reluctance of households to buy and spend is noticeable across the entire consumer sector.
Despite this difficult environment, sales of frozen food in the food retail/HD sector held up very well. In 2025, frozen food products were once again able to impressively underline their great importance for retailers as an important fresh, convenience and storage category. Consumers continue to appreciate the valuable contribution that frozen food makes to an enjoyable, uncomplicated, healthy and affordable diet."
Out-of-home market: growth, but still under pressure
Sales in the out-of-home market also continued to grow in 2025, increasing by 2.3% to 2.168 million tons (2024: 2.120 million tons). This means that the AHM sales channel has a slightly weaker share of 51.2% of total sales than in the previous year.
The Fix & Fertig segment recorded particularly strong growth of 9.0%. The double-digit growth of 14.7% in snacks is particularly noteworthy. Frozen pizza grew by 6.9 percent and frozen alternative products (plant-based) by 5.5 percent. The trend for frozen home-cooking products was slightly negative in 2025, with sales falling by 0.6%. Meat products fell by 6.0%, as did seafood (-7.5%) and fish dishes (-5.0%). In contrast, fish sticks (+17.0%), poultry (+9.5%) and game (+7.3%) were the main areas of growth. In the breakfast & dessert segment, the sector recorded slight growth of 1.6% in 2025. The most important sub-category, baked goods, grew by 1.7%.
"2025 was another difficult year for the food service industry, which continued to be under strong cost pressure and had to adapt to new everyday patterns," says dti Managing Director Sabine Eichner. According to the market research institute Circana, strong price awareness, trading down, greater importance of to-go offers and convenience products were the most important drivers in the past year 2025.
Eichner: "The spending restraint of many households, lack of skilled workers and cost increases are putting pressure on all segments of the food service industry to adapt. There is therefore a particular demand for labor-saving and cost-efficient solutions for the preparation of dishes and more efficient processes. Frozen food products can continue to score points here with their numerous advantages for professional users, as the dti sales statistics and the continued success of frozen food in the out-of-home market show."
TC sales continue to grow
Total TC sales increased by 4.5% to 23.612 billion euros in 2025 (2024: 22.601 billion euros). This is due to higher wages and increased costs for energy, packaging and raw materials.
Frozen food sales in the food retail/HD sales channel rose by 4.7% to €12.314 billion (2024: €11.766 billion).
Sales of frozen products in the AHM reached €11.298 billion in 2025 (2024: €10.835 billion), an increase of 4.3%. Here, too, cost increases had to be passed on to customers.
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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