Ready meals

The first chilled ready meal to hit the UK’s shelves, Chilli Con Carne, was made in the late 1970s by Northern Foods on behalf of one of its customers, M&S.

Twenty five years later the ready meal market continues to grow and we’re still finding new ways to serve up the latest in convenient meal ideas from around the world.

We offer a wide range of ready meals, covering Traditional, Oriental, Italian and American ranges, as well as providing some outstanding soup ranges. Our production is based across six sites in Carlisle, Grantham, Grimbsby, Hull, Sheffield and Swansea employing around 2,700 people.

 A growing market

The chilled ready meal category has been extensively developed over the last 10 years by the UK retailers and their suppliers such as Northern Foods.

The large majority of ready meals bought in the UK are under the retailer’s own label and we are the leading manufacturer in this market.

 

Today Northern Foods supplies ready meals to a cross section of the leading retailers. Whether we are making Lasagne, Hoisin Duck Noodles, a traditional Cottage Pie, a casserole or a healthy eating option such as Butternut Squash risotto, our principles remain the same. We’re committed to using the best ingredients and most authentic cooking methods to produce the tastiest and most enticing meals available.

Convenient, tasty and good for you

In the early days, ready meals were ALL about convenience. Busy lives, different meal times and more people living alone mean that’s still a major buying factor. But today there is a renewed interest in food and consumers expect more.

Whether it’s the quality of the ingredients in an everyday meal, a healthy meal using the latest ‘super foods’ or a special meal as a weekend treat, shoppers are looking for new ideas and exciting choices. That marriage of convenience, classic recipes and great new ideas is at the heart of why our ready meals are so popular.

We know our onions

It’s not surprising that we spend lots of time talking to consumers, finding out what they like. Then we set about developing recipes and cooking techniques to translate these trends into meals people want to buy again and again. 

We aim to make our meals naturally, as you would in your own kitchen, only on a larger scale. And, whether it’s sending a chef to China to learn Szechuan cooking techniques or sourcing fresh, natural ingredients, it’s our dedication to consistent quality and authenticity that makes our ready meals a cut above.

Our technical teams work hard to create new production methods that support our goals – for example it used to take 1 day to make egg-fried rice on a large scale – our revolutionary processes cut that down to 50 minutes.

We also believe we set the standards in product quality and areas like sourcing and traceability of raw materials. For example, to get our products exactly right every time, we work closely with individual suppliers - such as the Scottish farmers who grow the potatoes for our fresh mash or the beekeeper who provides the fantastic New Zealand forest honey used in our Celeriac & honey roast parsnip soup. Similarly, we pioneered the introduction of full traceability of our fresh British beef supply ‘from farm to fork’ during the BSE crisis.