Prepared Foods

Because their hallmark is convenience, you would think prepared foods would be among the supermarket’s biggest sellers. You would be wrong. For every hit, there are a dozen misses, either because the product falls short in quality--many prepared foods over-promise and under-deliver--or nutrition. Frozen entrées, for instance, are often loaded with salt to compensate for the loss of flavor many foods undergo when they are frozen.

Consumers have shown a willingness to pay the higher prices many prepared foods command, but only if processors follow through with products with superior taste, texture, and nutrition.