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HyFun Foods team up with Woolworths to expand frozen foods

Ready-to-eat frozen food provider HyFun Foods partners with multinational retail giant Woolworths to move the premiumisation of frozen foods further into mainstream food aisles.

In December 2024, Indian frozen snack brand, HyFun Foods, announced it was partnering with Woolworths, an Australian-headquartered retail leader.

The collaboration will see HyFun Food’s premium frozen food offerings brought to the mass consumer market. Woolworths is Australia’s largest retail chain, with over 1,000 stores located across the country.

HyFun Foods' product portfolio includes a range of French fries, potato and vegetarian frozen goods, baked snacks, and Indian specialities including Aloo Tikki and Sabudana Patty.

Following the agreement, HyFun Foods products including its hashbrowns will be available at Woolworths stores across Australia.

Frozen food snacks go premium?

The new agreement between HyFun and Woolworths is a move that signals HyFun’s embraced efforts to evolve its premium snacks from niche corner freezers to the more mainstream middle-of-the-aisle placements.

HyFun Foods teamed up with Your Spud Co, which combines the simplicity of potatoes with home cooking to create hashbrowns and tots without any artificial colours or flavours. Your Spud Co believes its collaboration with HyFun Foods builds upon its existing exposure and enables it to meet Australia’s demands for high-quality potato products.

Alongside bringing the Indian brand’s frozen food products to a new Australian audience, HyFun Foods aims to meet the growing demand for quality and convenience in the frozen food space, while also elevating the experience and reputation associated with frozen products.

By bringing together new product development (NPD) and tasty products that meet international quality standards, HyFun Foods strives to increase its presence and appeal to busy on-the-go consumers living fast-paced lifestyles.

The brand’s latest entry into the Australian retail sphere follows its partnership with US commerce giant, Walmart, which it teamed up with in October 2024, under its Great Value Brand.

Ready-to-eat frozen goods: A growing space

According to data insights provider Statista, in 2024, the Australian ready-to-eat meals market was worth $3.55 billion. While this is a much smaller slice of the frozen pie than China’s ready-to-eat market, valued at $149 billion in 2024, it is expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.81% between 2024 and 2029. The Australian food sector is undergoing a period of expansive growth, market insights provider Innova revealed in a market update in September 2024.

Consumer choices and dietary habits increasingly revolve around convenient snacks that come in tasty, better-for-you, and better-for-the-planet varieties. As a result, brands and manufacturers are developing premium varieties of frozen foods to give consumers more elevated snacking experiences that provide optimum consumption choices.

Everyday staples are becoming more prominent among Australian consumers, with bread and cereal driving growth in the market. Freshness and taste are leading influences on these products’ popularity, while health, variety, and novelty are also notable factors influencing shoppers’ purchasing decisions.

With food options that maximise convenience and focus on taste prioritised on consumers’ shopping lists, meal preparation solutions are rising in popularity. Interestingly, in Australia, two in four consumers select ready meals due to their convenience, which over-indexes the global average.

Plant-based and specialty diets are popular among Australian consumers, too. Innova’s data shows that close to one quarter (22%) of consumers have increased how much meat substitutes they eat, driven by diverse factors including health, environmental claims, increased variety and novelty, as well as more awareness of plant-based meat and dairy alternative brands.

Among plant-based product shoppers, a number of nutrients including fibre, protein, and natural are leading claims, opening up further opportunities for frozen food providers like HyFun Foods to engage with Australian consumers.