TUPELO, Miss. – After flat sales in 2017, frozen food is off to a much better start in 2018, with sales jumping 1.4% through the end of the first quarter, the Daily Journal reports. Jordan Rost, vice president of consumer insights for Nielsen, pointed to convenience and the current trend toward healthier options as accelerating sales of frozen foods.

For example, sales of frozen vegetables jumped 4.5% during the first quarter, while frozen meat alternatives increased 16.4%. Kroger said its stores had experienced an uptick in frozen food sales. “We believe millennials are a big reason for the increase,” Teresa Dickerson, who handles media relations for the company’s Delta division, said. “We attribute this growth to a ton of new innovation providing healthy and time-saving options for our customers.”

Natalie Markle, member communications coordinator at the National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Association Inc., also sees millennials as pushing sales of frozen foods, with 43% likely to purchase frozen foods more today than in the past. Millennials like fast solutions for all meals, and easy side dishes.

“I think that with the growth of the category and the different products that are coming out, it’s really changing the way that frozen foods have been viewed before,” she said. “All kinds of brands are coming up with natural and organic products, putting in better ingredients. A lot more innovative products are coming out, and it’s opening consumers’ eyes that not all frozen foods are bad.”