Iceland reveal plans to change public perception of frozen food
Iceland are attempting to change public opinion for the better on themselves and in turn frozen food, they aim to dispel the sentiments of frozen food being a cheap and otherwise lesser option for consumers. They are planning to release unorthodox products in order to draw in new customers and show them the improvements in quality frozen food has made in recent years.
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Founded in 1970 by Sir Malcolm Walker in Oswestry, Shropshire, the supermarket initially specialised in loose frozen food, offered at a cut-price to the “fancy packaged” food of other retailers. By 1977, they'd opened a new store in Manchester selling own-labelled packaged food, and by 1978 it had 28 stores to its name, as the company continued to grow to the 950 locations it now operates from, accounting for 2.4 percent share of the UK food market. The company is famous for its frozen foods, including prepared meals and vegetables, but in 2018, Sir Malcolm appointed his son, Richard, as joint Managing Director with the hope of shaking things up.

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Richard is spending £80million to modernise over 200 stores with an emphasis on filling them with two-thirds of grocery items such as chilled produce, meat and dairy and is also hoping to boost sales by appealing to new customers by rolling-out unorthodox products. The move is a risk for Iceland, who have spent the last 50 years specialising in their sector of the market and Channel 5’s ‘Inside Iceland’ revealed some of the changes expected to be rolled out. The narrator said in January: “Deeside in the northwest, this is company headquarters, where top brass plan the future. “Boss Richard has ambitious plans to expand and needs more customers.

Richard Walker has ambitious plans for Iceland

The documentary took viewers to the company HQ

“He’s given his team the task of boosting sales, including trading director Andrew Staniland.” The series then spoke to CEO Richard, who explained his new goal was not about changing Iceland’s target market but just expanding to those who may shop at other, similar supermarkets. He said: “We’re obviously not Waitrose or M&S, we’re not offering very expensive food exclusively to upper-middle classes. “Our customers have always been busy people on a budget.” Director of Frozen Goods, Andrew Staniland, explained why there is still a lot of work for Iceland to do to appeal to those shoppers. READ MORE: Iceland Managing Director's 'big shake-up' plan revealed: 'Our method is to disrupt!'

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Director of Frozen Goods, Andrew Staniland

The team tested potential products of the future

Iceland is hoping to win over more customers

“Andrew’s team are hoping to match the success of products like their Duck-in Doughnuts, that’s doughnuts with actual duck in.” Mr Staniland explained the importance of picking the right kind of product so they do not lose their key customers. He added: “We’re always half a step, only half a step ahead of our customers. “If you’re two steps ahead, if you develop something too weird and wonderful, it often doesn’t work “You’ve got to introduce things relatively slowly.

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