Dishes made from scratch cost 24% more than frozen foods, claims study

The study investigated the overall cost of making frozen versus 'fresh' dishes commonly served within pubs, restaurants and hotels. It compared six dishes; two starters - canapés and breaded camembert, two main courses - lamb shank and salmon en croute, and two desserts - strawberry cheesecake and profiteroles. Each frozen and 'fresh' dish was made to exactly the same recipe and specification. In nearly all cases during the research, dishes made to a duplicate recipe from scratch cost more than 24% more than their frozen counterparts. This rose to 66% with more labour intensive dishes which involved a high skill level. Other research found that mixed canapés cost 66% more to make from scratch than their frozen counterpart, Lamb shank cost 27% more to make from scratch than frozen, and strawberry cheesecake cost 24% more to make from scratch than frozen. Colin Rodgers, technical project manager at the Manchester Food Research Unit said: "On the whole, the study considered it was more cost effective to buy readymade frozen alternatives than manufacturing the food fresh from 'scratch', particularly the more labour intensive dishes which involve a high skill level at a considerable cost." Brian Young, director general of the BFFF commented: "We have long known that frozen offers a better value option for the caterer. We now have independent research to statistically support this belief." Young added: "In this tough economic climate there is a compelling business case for using frozen food. Buying frozen will save money because of competitive and stable food prices, the ability to control portion sizes and wastage, plus the opportunity to cut kitchen labour costs. This will help businesses reduce their overheads, produce more accurate pricing models and protect their profits." The research forms part of a BFFF foodservice campaign which aims to educate the foodservice sector on how they can profit from using frozen food in the face of a UK recession.