Aldo Zilli and The New Ice Age

Earlier this year we held a media launch to unveil the results of our ‘Cost, Waste and Taste comparison’ study at Zilli Fish. 

Hosted by our ‘Face of Frozen’ celebrity chef and all round nice guy, Aldo Zilli's guests included influential mum bloggers, a variety of food and drink journalists and our resident nutritionalist, Yvonne Bishop Weston, who were all treated to a delicious four-course lunch cooked by the man himself.

Back in March 2010, our friends over at the Manchester Food Research Centre recruited nine families from the Greater Manchester area to take part in atwo-week ‘Cost, Waste and Taste comparison’ study. Each participating family prepared the same menu for their evening meals – using fresh ingredients forthe first week and all frozen ingredients during the second. This Fresh Vs Frozen food research study created some surprising results, in terms of the value for money, minimal wastage and superior taste of certain frozen foods incomparison to their fresh equivalent!

The study revealed that cooking from frozen was 33.12% less expensive than from fresh for main meal of the week for all families. Each family that took part achieved savings ranging from 12.73% to as much as 56.95% when cooking meals from frozen. The fresh food average actual cost per week for the main meal of the week, for a family of 2 adults and 1 to 2 children, was £41.29 whereas for frozen food it was £27.60. 

When it came to wastage***, research found when cooking with fresh food there was 36.77% more waste than when cooking from frozen. The amount of waste for the fresh food ranged from 25 grams per week, per family to 1290 grams. In contrast, the amount of wastage with frozen ranged from zero to 920 grams, with 2 families showing zero waste. On average waste for fresh food for a family of 2 adults and 1-2 children was 519 grams, whereas with frozen it was only 328 grams.

Whilst study results on taste could not be evaluated quantitatively, there were many dishes that families liked and some equalled or were considered to be tastier than fresh. The families were pleasantly surprised at just how tasty the frozen options were. Evidence from both the completed diaries and from the focus group showed very clearly that families will in future incorporate more frozen meals into their weekly diet

British families are not the only ones moving towards favouring frozen. Celebrity chefand patron of four top London restaurants Aldo Zilli has joined forces with theNewIceAge.com to help dispel the myths and negativity surrounding frozen foods. A keen supporter, Zilli incorporates quality frozen food into his award winning meals, which he serves daily at his Soho restaurant Zilli Fish

Zilli says, “Cooking with frozen does not mean lowering ones standards on freshness or nutritional value. On the contrary, frozen can often be fresher, especially when dealing with seafood and fish. The British consumer is very financially mindful and environmentally conscious - frozen food allows consumers certain luxuries without compromising on taste, lowering wastage and ensuring greatvalue for money.”