Move over cake and pie products, make room for cookies and brownies: the retail frozen dessert market excluding ice cream was worth over $595 million in the USA in 2007, according to Information Resources, Inc. The pies category dominated, accounting for almost $353 million of the total. Cheesecakes rang up $76 million in sales.

There's a blast of fresh, sweet air coming from retail freezer cases across the USA, and it's emanating from a range of new and innovative baked sweet goods. While not quite a sea change, this is the first time in many years that American consumers truly have the choice of whether to stop at the frozen food aisle for dessert or at the in-store bakery. Manufacturers are listening carefully to consumers and delivering a combination of convenience and home-cooked flavors, or maybe its homemade cookies.

Cherry Hill, New Jersey-based Pinnacle Foods Corp. has taken packaged baked goods brand Duncan Hines out of the baking aisle and into the "zero zone" with two new frozen, ready-to-bake products: Chocolate Chip and Fudge Homestyle Brownies. They were first introduced in July of 2007, followed by intensive advertising.

Lora Van Velsor, vice president of marketing, told Quick Frozen Foods International (QFFI) that Oven Ready Homestyle Brownies meet the needs of time-crunched consumers and provide them with the same quality product that is delivered from Duncan Hines mixes.

The company's aim was to offer a product that was easy to make, delicious, and filled the house with the aroma of brownies being baked. "The time in the oven and the good smells are key to a positive consumer experience," said Van Velsor, who added that a line extension of new flavors and different shapes is in the pipeline.

Folks looking for a chocolate fix without feeling guilty that they are splurging on their diets can reach for a VitaBrownie from New York, N.Y.-based Vitalicious, Inc. The low-sodium, whole-wheat product is part of an expanding list of delicious and indulgent tasting treats that contain no more than 100 calories per portion.

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"Our products fit into most diet plans, and count as only one point on the Weight Watchers diet," said Ira Laufer, company spokesman. He added that VitaBrownie and the entire Vitalicious line features natural ingredients that fit into the growing trend toward nutraceutical foods that provide additional health benefits beyond basic nutrition.

Vitalicious products are now available nationwide, and shelved mostly in the natural foods section of freezer cases. The company's newest product, to be released in the first quarter of 2008, is a 100-calorie corn muffin. "Our muffins are great for breakfast, snacks and desserts," said Laufer. "The recipe took three years to develop, and will be first introduced in Safeway stores on the West Coast."

Trying to "muscle" the brownies aside is the 600 lb. Gorilla of frozen ready-to-bake cookies from Wrentham, Massachusetts-based 600 lb. Gorillas, Inc. This growing company provides gourmet chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin frozen cookie dough. Paula White told QFFI that the two offerings can be found up and down the East Coast, and that westward expansion is now being planned.

The frozen dough is also available to foodservice vendors, who bake it off at their shops, thus filling the premises with the pleasant, wafting aroma of fresh cookies. And with bake-as-you-need convenience, there is virtually no waste.

"Our company is small enough that we can quickly turn out a custom order, but also large enough to handle quantity needs," said the chief executive officer. She added that cookies are especially popular since they provide a sweet ending to a meal, but are portion controlled.

One of the newest releases to cross over from the foodservice arena to retail supermarkets will be a molasses cookie, while an ice cream sandwich is currently under development. "Most ice cream sandwiches come from ice cream producers," said Ms. White. "The filling is great, but the cookies are not. We're starting with a great-tasting cookie and adding premium ice cream."

Freezer-to-oven cookies are also available from Morristown, New Jersey-based Wholly Wholesome. Its growing line includes Chocolate Chip, Double Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal Raisin, Sugar, and the newest addition: Oatmeal Cranberry Orange. The company makes natural baked goods for "ingredient conscious" consumers.

Wholly Wholesome has also come out with bake-and-serve cakes, pies and cheesecakes. The natural line's latest offering is Cheesecake Bites.

Most everyone admits that desserts and dieting don't go together. However, as consumers are becoming better educated about diets and food choices, they are realizing that desserts can be indulged in, as long as they don't over indulge. Manufacturers are feeding this hunger with smaller servings and individually wrapped, ready-to-go desserts.

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Amy's Kitchen Inc., for example, is offering Apple Pie featuring ingredients from organic apple orchards in Sebastopol, California, which is just 10 minutes away by car from the Petaluma processing plant. The 227-gram offering serves two.

Small is Big Business

Smaller sizes are also becoming more popular in the foodservice sector, where they serve two purposes: portion control for customers, and less waste for sellers.

Hand-in-hand with people who are too busy to make their own desserts at home are consumers who are too busy to cook altogether, and generally head out of the house to eat. Foodservice providers that are unable to support an in-house bakery are turning more to prepared desserts, and requesting smaller portion items.

According to Kathy McGillivary, foodservice brand manager for Marshall, Minnesota-based Schwan Food Company, "Consumers love desserts, and they love to eat them during lunch, but at the same time they want smaller bites."

Schwan provides a variety of portion-controlled, 100-calorie, individually wrapped desserts such as brownies, cheesecake, chocolate cake, chocolate mousse, and apple and cherry crisps. McGillivary says that these items are popular because consumers can enjoy real ingredients that satisfy their cravings without feeling stuffed or that their diets have been compromised.

Schwan is also offering four new foodservice cheesecakes through its Heidi's Gourmet Desserts line. These thaw-and-serve treats come packaged with paper between the slices for easy and attractive serving, and there is no waste for the operator. Flavors include double chocolate, dulce de leche/caramel, cappuccino, and vanilla bean.

The company is especially pleased with the vanilla bean. "We're the only one who makes this type of product," said McGillivary. She noted that the cake was initially created exclusively for the Olive Garden restaurant chain, but now has been adapted to general foodservice sales channels.

Other co-branded thaw-and-serve foodservice pie wedges coming to the market this April under the Mrs. Smith's line will be Hershey, Butterfinger and Snickers Cream Pies.

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Natural and Organic

"Organic is no longer a strange word," said Tony Falletta, spokesman for Dumont, New Jersey-based The Fillo Factory. Its products are certified organic and kosher.

Falletta told Quick Frozen Foods International that just five years ago many consumers viewed organic food as something strange and definitely expensive. The change in attitude, he said, canto through education. Retailers are spending more money to market organic products, and are no longer separating organic products at end caps where they were perceived as odd. Today organic is mainstream and associated with high quality.

However, the organic market still has a way to go. The spokesman pointed to rising food prices and consumers shopping at large club stores to save money on groceries as a deterrent to organic marketing. "You don't find a lot of organic products at club stores," he said. "If these stores are where consumers are predominantly shopping, then they won't be exposed to these products."

The Fillo Factory sells Organic Apple Turnovers in a ready-to-bake tray. Twelve pieces come per box, same as its Novelty Cut Baklava offering. The product packaging clearly states that contents are USDA organic certified, as well as vegan and made without trans fats. Falletta added that the company uses only natural ingredients.

Nature's Organic of British Columbia, Canada, sells several brands of products ranging from breakfast cereals to snack bars. Its Pie*Oh*My! line, distributed by Nature's Patch Foods, Inc. of Blaine, Washington, includes four varieties of single-serve pies featuring fillings of apple, pineapple, wild-berry and dark cherry.

The trend toward expanded freezer space in some retail supermarkets is paying off for manufacturers looking to offer familiar products in the frozen food aisle for the first time. Consumers will still reach for indulgent cream pies, fruit pies and cakes, especially during the holidays. But now they have newer choices for every-day desserts, single servings of cookies and brownies that fill the house with pleasant, nostalgic smells of home cooking without the need for laborious preparation and clean-up.

This blast of cold air is a welcome addition to the traditional frozen pound cake of yesterday. The desserts of tomorrow appear to be in the grocers' freezers today.

By SHARON J. WISHNOW, QFFI Correspondent