PATNA: This Holi, a large number of homemakers have switched over to ready-to-cook
frozen food
items to save time as the celebration is incomplete without snacks which are served along with sweets to the
guests and relatives
on the occasion.
“To save time and energy, a large number of people prefer frozen food. The market is slowly expanding even to smaller towns such as Gaya, Bhagalpur and Muzaffarapur. The frozen food like French fries and green peas sell like hot cakes during the festive season and the same trend is there on Holi,” said a store keeper near
Congress Maidan
in Kadamkuan.
Ashutosh Singh, who is in the business for the last 12 years, said the market for frozen food has been increasing 100% every year. “The city based hotels and guesthouses are also the main drivers of frozen food business. The hotels serve ready-to-serve breakfast to the guest and most of them nowadays are frozen food,” he said.
According to Singh, the maximum demand for frozen food is during marriage season. It’s the time when people have to serve to a large number of guests in short duration. “It takes 5-10 minutes to serve frozen samosas, chicken nuggets and French fries, which is popular items across brands,” Ashutosh said.
Vaibhav Singh, a business development executive with a frozen food company, said the market for frozen products is at a nascent stage in Bihar, compared to bigger cities. However, a large a number shopkeepers and hypermarkets have come up in the city. French fries are in huge demand among the children, he said.
Nripendra Narain, chief operating officer of a retail chain in the city, said young working couples in the age group of 20-35 largely depend on frozen food which is ready-to-eat and serve.
“Gone are the days when people had time to cut and peel vegetables and spend time on cooking. Even the girls living in the hostels buy frozen food. The non-veg
food items
are also quite popular nowadays,” said Narain.