美国国家公共电台 NPR Frozen Food Sales Feel The Heat As Consumers Opt For Fresh

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Call this the freezing out of frozen food - you know, TV dinners, which were a novelty when they first showed up in national supermarkets back in the 1950s.

(SOUNDBITE OF AD)

UNIDENTIFIED VOICE ACTOR: It's the first and only three-course frozen dinner.

GREENE: The first and only. But as NPR's Neda Ulaby reports, sales of frozen dinners have flattened¹ or dropped over the past few years.

NEDA ULABY, BYLINE²: Grandmother Lynn Smith is picking up frozen vegetables in a Los Angeles grocery store to add to her evening stew³.

Do you buy a lot of your food in the frozen food aisle⁴?

LYNN SMITH: No I don't, as a matter of fact.

ULABY: Neither do many other people shopping here today.

SMITH: As you can see, it's kind of an empty aisle.

ULABY: Frozen food is a $53 billion a year business. That might sound like a lot, but frozen accounts for only about 6 percent of total grocery store sales. It's hard to compete with the warmth and good smells of the deli section that's gotten so big in so many stores, says Warren Thayer. He edits of frozen food trade magazine.

WARREN THAYER: Forty-six percent of shoppers on the typical trip, when they spend over $100, don't even set foot in the frozen food department.

ULABY: Here's one reason why.

PHIL LEMPERT: You're physically⁵ cold.

ULABY: Food industry analyst⁶ Phil Lempert lays out why lots of frozen food is flailing⁷. Ice cream is doing fine. So is organic stuff. But sales of frozen entrees⁹ have dropped by as much as 3 percent over the past few years when measured by volume. Lempert partly blames the predictable packaging.

LEMPERT: The red Lean Cuisine¹⁰, the green Healthy Choice. It's sort of, like, boring.

ULABY: And frozen faces another design challenge.

LEMPERT: That glass door - it really creates a fence.

ULABY: You don't see those glass doors at Trader Joe's. The company does not release sales figures, but a spokesperson told NPR that frozen there is doing fine. Trader Joe's frozen food is not even that much different from what you can find in regular stores, says analyst Phil Lempert. But Trader Joe's has open cases.

LEMPERT: It's fun to go through that case to see what you're going to find.

ULABY: So why don't more grocery stores switch to the Trader Joe's model? I asked the head of the American Frozen Food Institute.

ALISON BODER: Probably because freezer cases are a high-cost item.

ULABY: Alison Boder says it'll take real innovation by manufacturers and grocery stores alike to give frozen entree⁸ sales more heat.

Neda Ulaby, NPR News.

1 flattened   

[医]（水）平扁的，弄平的

参考例句：

• She flattened her nose and lips against the window. 她把鼻子和嘴唇紧贴着窗户。
• I flattened myself against the wall to let them pass. 我身体紧靠着墙让他们通过。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 stew   

n.炖汤，焖，烦恼；v.炖汤，焖，忧虑

参考例句：

• The stew must be boiled up before serving.炖肉必须煮熟才能上桌。
• There's no need to get in a stew.没有必要烦恼。

4 aisle   

n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道

参考例句：

• The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
• The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。

5 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

6 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

7 flailing   

v.鞭打( flail的现在分词 )；用连枷脱粒；（臂或腿）无法控制地乱动；扫雷坦克

参考例句：

• He became moody and unreasonable, flailing out at Katherine at the slightest excuse. 他变得喜怒无常、不可理喻，为点鸡毛蒜皮的小事就殴打凯瑟琳。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His arms were flailing in all directions. 他的手臂胡乱挥舞着。 来自辞典例句

8 entree   

n.入场权，进入权

参考例句：

• She made a graceful entree into the ballroom.她进入舞厅时显示非常优雅。
• Her wealth and reputation gave her entree into upper-class circles.她的财富和声望使她得以进入上层社会。

9 entrees   

n.入场权( entree的名词复数 )；主菜

参考例句：

• Can I also take you order for your entrees now? 现在要不要也点主菜？ 来自互联网
• Before the entrees are served, the waiter first serves four cold dishes. 在正菜上桌之前，服务员先上了四个凉碟。 来自互联网

10 cuisine   

n.烹调，烹饪法

参考例句：

• This book is the definitive guide to world cuisine.这本书是世界美食的权威指南。
• This restaurant is renowned for its cuisine.这家餐馆以其精美的饭菜而闻名。