SIC 5142 Wholesale Packaged Frozen Foods

SIC 5142

Included in this category are establishments primarily engaged in the wholesale distribution of packaged quick-frozen vegetables, juices, meats, fish, poultry, pastries, and other "deep freeze" products. Establishments primarily engaged in the wholesale distribution of frozen dairy products are classified in SIC 5143: Dairy Products, Except Dried or Canned, and those distributing frozen poultry, fish, and meat that are not packaged are classified in SIC 5144: Poultry and Poultry Products, SIC 5146: Fish and Seafoods, and SIC 5147: Meats and Meat Products, respectively.

NAICS CODE(S)

422420

Packaged Frozen Food Wholesalers

INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT

Total frozen foods sales exceeded $30 billion in 2001, according to Frozen Food Age, up from $24 billion in 1997. The category remained healthy due to robust product innovation and lifestyle demographics favoring convenience foods, particularly those with a healthy image. Still, like wholesalers in general, those distributing frozen packaged foods were increasingly squeezed by the intensifying demands of manufacturers and retailers alike. Wholesalers in this environment faced increasing pressure to bolster their operations with value-added services.

ORGANIZATION AND STRUCTURE

Some packaged frozen food wholesalers are specialty wholesalers offering just a few products—premium frozen novelties or frozen diet foods, for example. Besides selling frozen food, these wholesalers generally provide point-of-sale merchandising material, display suggestions, and offer product servicing such as stock rotation and product display monitoring.

For the most part, however, frozen foods were provided to retailers by full-service wholesalers, businesses that offer complete lines of grocery and non-grocery products and help the retailers with advertising, merchandising, and getting products they did not warehouse. Competition increased in this sector during the 1990s, and many large companies introduced sophisticated computer programs to track orders and deliveries.

Some frozen foods are distributed through the wholesale/retail chain by retailer-owned wholesalers, retailers who operate their own warehouses and shipping lines. The cooperative effort makes it possible for retailers to obtain merchandise at the lowest possible cost. The...