A new global report on Ready Meals markets projects the market will exceed US$81 billion by the year 2015.

ising employment of women, increase in disposable income, and increasing westernization of food habits across major countries are leading factors driving demand for convenient meal options, especially ready meals.
 
According to the new report from Global Industry Analysts, the trend for ready meals, primarily owing to convenience, has been growing over the years, and currently most leading markets are nearing maturity.
 
While "convenience" and "microwaveable" have been popular claims in the market, "health" and "natural/organic" are new claims that are now being widely used to draw consumer appeal. In fact, "Health" and "Organic" have emerged as the most popular claims over the past couple of years. Ready meals manufacturers also continue to embark on novel approaches in their offerings to attract customers. Children's meals segment, despite being smaller in size, is one of the fastest growing segments.
 
Europe dominates the world ready meals market as stated by the new market research report on ready meals market. Since 1990s, customers' attitude towards food has transformed significantly in Europe. One of the key factors that have driven this shift includes improvement in living standards, and need for convenience. Not surprisingly, ready meals witnessed rapid surge in demand, as consumers became more time-constrained. In markets such as France, where consumers are more particular about quality and taste, demand for ready meals witnessed dramatic growth. The most popular ready meals option among Europeans is frozen ready meals.
 
Asia-Pacific represents the fastest growing market for ready meals. Though most countries in this region traditionally prefer home cooked meals, rising income levels, increasing ownership of refrigerators and microwave ovens, rapid penetration of western-format retail chains and growing popularity of convenience food is driving demand for ready meals. However, preference for local diets and religious restrictions on beef and pork consumption are factors hampering the growth of meat-based ready meals. Another major growth inhibitor is the lack of adequate cold storage infrastructure for frozen and chilled ready meals.