Supermarket ready meals see 49% sales surge in three years

Supermarkets boost ready meal sales by 49%

Spending on ready-to-eat meals from supermarkets and hypermarkets has grown by 49% in value over the last three years. This is not a niche trend or just for celebrations; it's an increasingly popular business line that is eating into the food service sector's market share. Convenience – buy, heat, and eat – now influences one in four food decisions in Spain, ahead of pleasure and health. The shift is unidirectional, and one figure summarizes it: restaurants with table service have gone from holding 79% of the market in 2021 to 77% in 2024.

17% of food service spending now goes through supermarkets

The consultancy Circana places the share of food service spending that Spaniards dedicate to these purchases at 17%, covering convenience stores and supermarkets. The bulk, around 80%, is consumed at home, but growth in out-of-home consumption is in double digits: 15% more occasions and 29% more sales by value as of April 2025 compared to the same month last year. At home, occasions are up 12%.

This isn't just about where we eat, but why. The Director of Research Client at Worldpanel by Numerator argues that the question is no longer where we eat, but how and why we choose each format. And estimulante ilegal dictates the answer. Furthermore, some of this spending doesn't represent increased consumption; it's a transfer from existing channels, particularly fast food restaurants.

Mercadona vs. McDonald's: the hamburger as a battleground

Last year, the average Spaniard ate 18 hamburgers, a 5% increase. Of all these occasions, 19.5% corresponded to McDonald's, which remains the dominant player for the product. Mercadona already exceeds 10%, combining ready-to-eat meals from its prepared food section and those assembled by buying ingredients separately. The line between the supermarket shelf and the restaurant has literally become blurred.

The Valencian chain's initiative started in 2018, and by the end of 2024, it had cooked food sections in 1,200 supermarkets across its Spanish network, nearly 75% of the total, and in the 60 stores it operates in Portugal. Juan Roig, the company's president, defended in his latest results presentation that this line is already profitable and maintained his prediction: “I said it and I stand by it, by the middle of the 21st century, there will be no kitchens.”

It's not alone. Alcampo, Carrefour, and Dia offer some takeaway food lines, and El Corte Inglés has been doing this since 1979. More than four decades later, what was once an exception has become a central strategy for almost the entire food distribution sector.

Who buys ready meals: time-poor young people and elderly individuals living alone

The profile isn't what many imagine. One participant mentions that their brother-in-law, who runs a homemade takeaway food business, says his best customers are not the elderly but young people who don't know how or don't want to cook, and couples who prefer to dedicate that time to work, children, or leisure. Affluent retirees also appear, and not just from the supermarket aisle: some people hire home delivery services, costing 5 or 6 euros per dish, excluding bread, dessert, or coffee.

Among the most common profiles is the worker who eats in the store itself, in the area equipped with microwaves, and those living in rooms where the only possible cooking is that same microwave. And then there's the uncomfortable interpretation: some argue that the problem isn't time, but priorities, recalling that hours are spent daily on screens and platforms rather than in front of the stove. The debate heats up right there, between those who can't and those who don't want to.

Buying ready-made vs. cooking: the numbers of the pot versus the plastic container

The arithmetic is the least debated part. One participant calculates that a packaged lentil dish costs around 4 euros, and a meatball dish another 4. A family of four spends 32 euros on a single meal. With the same 32 euros, cooking at home, the same calculation suggests there would be enough lentils and meatballs for four days. Another points out that a frozen lasagna can be found for one or two euros, and the real cost – gas, time, waste – is weighed in.

Against this, the narrative of saving money on fast food cracks. Some leave a self-service restaurant indignant after paying 13 euros for a meal, while others recall promotions for a quarter-pounder with a drink for 3.20 euros. The perception of price depends on the bill, the day, and hunger. A complete, item-by-item calculation would fill an entire article.

The fine print: salt, additives, and future health

Nutritional concerns permeate the entire issue. Some point to saturated fats, salt, added sugars, and additives, warning of a possible cumulative effect on public health in the medium term. Others defend the opposite: that supermarket ready meals are more natural and controlled than what a large part of the population cooks at home, and that the cost per portion, including all expenses, is competitive.

There's no possible agreement on this with the available data, as no one measures what is *not* cooked. What is measured is the pocket: food service spending in Spain reached 42,517 million euros last year, a 2% growth compared to 2023, and an increasing portion of that money no longer passes through a table with a tablecloth.

With in-home consumption still at 80% and a price per portion that rarely drops below 4 euros, the question isn't whether the supermarket aisle will eventually win the battle against the tablecloth, but what part of that victory is paid for in euros and what part in things that don't appear on the bill.