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Nestlé’s Stoppers line has established itself as a dominant player in frozen comfort food with meals like lasagna, chicken enchiladas and beef pot roast. Now the company is hoping to bring that success to shelf-stable products.
The brand makes its first foray into the space this month with Stouffer’s. Supreme Shells & Cheese comes in two flavors: Cheddar Cheese and Three Cheese. Additional innovations are expected to hit the market starting in 2025.
“We want to literally shake up the aisle in terms of what we offer to the consumer,” Tom Moh, president of Nestlé’s meals business, said in an interview. “And if you think about that aisle, it’s been a while since a significant brand—macaroni and cheese—came in with a compelling proposition, and now is the opportunity.”
The shelf-stable macaroni and cheese market is a huge category representing a $2.9 billion market. The segment is also poised for growth, with an opportunity exceeding $100 million in the near term, Nestlé said.
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Provided by Nestle
Stoppers is no stranger to macaroni and cheese, making 13 frozen versions of the product. But while consumers eat macaroni and cheese 22 times a year, the packaged food company says they eat dried pasta 15 of those times.
“We want to bring that same experience (in frozen foods) to where most of the buying is happening,” Moe said.
Nestle’s 67% of shoppers who purchase The stopper is frozen Mac and cheese was also purchased in the shelf-stable option, more than double the roughly one-third of consumers who purchased both frozen and shelf-stable products, indicating that the new macaroni and cheese launch is particularly resonant. Stopper’s existing user base.
The Switzerland-based company says 70 percent of current shelf-stable macaroni and cheese users have expressed interest in purchasing Stouffer’s products. Next to Brands they are already buying.
“We want to literally shake up the aisle in terms of what we offer to the consumer. And if you think about that aisle, it’s been a while since a major brand (macaroni and cheese) came in with a compelling proposition, and now is the opportunity.”
Tom Moe
President of Nestlé Foods Division
Nestlé is using a dominant red horizontal package for its shelf-stable macaroni and cheese, which resembles a frozen box. This allows the company to leverage the brand equity of Stouffer’s that people recognize while also making the new product stand out on the shelf, differentiating it from competitors, Moe said.
Nestlé said Stouffer’s Supreme Shells & Cheese has 10 percent more cheese sauce than the leading shelf-stable shells and a stronger cheese flavor profile that will help resonate with consumers. Moe said Nestlé’s was preferred in both blind and branded taste tests between Stouffer’s and the leading shelf-stable brands.
Stouffer’s traces its history back to the 1920s, when a restaurant called Stouffer Lunch opened in Cleveland. The brand entered the frozen food market in 1954. nestle The brand was acquired nearly 20 years later.
During the pandemic, companies like Nestlé have scaled back on innovation to focus on filling shelves with the most popular items. The impact of COVID-19 is less pronounced, but the food landscape is facing inflation that has forced cash-strapped consumers to cut back on what and how much they buy.
Moe said the new macaroni and cheese is competitively priced with other frozen and shelf-stable products on the market. It also “gives the consumer another dimension” by giving them more control over the cooking process, something that doesn’t exist when you reheat frozen foods in the microwave or oven.
“We want to make sure that we address that there is a very distinct consumer gap there,” he added.
Shelf-stable macaroni and cheese is the latest staple. nestle Announced in 2024. In May, the company announced the launch of its first major U.S. brand in nearly 30 years to meet the needs of consumers taking GLP-1 drugs and other individuals focused on weight management. The line, called Vital Pursuit, is expected to hit store shelves this month.
