Mercadona president Juan Roig has urged consumers to delegate cooking to technology as the Spanish supermarket chain expands its ready to eat food business.
Speaking at an industry conference, Roig said that historical domestic cooking was not driven by personal choice, but by a lack of efficient alternatives. He argued that earlier generations would have embraced prepared meals if modern industrial tools had existed in their time.
The Valencian supermarket executive noted that just a few days remain until Mercadona reaches the eight-year mark since launching its prepared food division. The chain introduced the section to address a growing demand among customers whose busy modern schedules leave little time for traditional meal preparation.
While the ready to eat division has consolidated its presence across store locations, Roig stated that he is not satisfied with current sales volumes. He aims to make the section a regular, primary option for consumers seeking to meet their daily nutritional needs without standing over a stove.
Role of technology in modern kitchens
Addressing the annual congress of the Association of Manufacturers and Distributors (Aecoc) in October, Roig emphasized that technological innovation is the primary key to reshaping consumer eating habits. He told industry leaders that if great-great-grandmothers had possessed the technology available today, they would not have spent their lives cooking either.
Aecoc brings together top executives from manufacturing and distribution companies across Spain to analyze retail trends and market shifts. The organization's next annual gathering is scheduled to take place at the Palacio de Congresos y Exposiciones de Sevilla between October 21 and October 22.
During his address to the conference, the head of Mercadona outlined a priority strategy to expand the chain's prepared kitchen line by aligning industrial capabilities with changing consumer lifestyles. He noted that past generations were forced into heavy kitchen labor simply because reliable commercial options were unavailable.
Industrial processing and consumer time
Modern food manufacturing relies on advanced industrial preservation techniques, cold chain logistics, automated kitchens, and vacuum packaging. Roig explained that these technologies allow large scale producers to prepare meals with the same freshness as traditional home cooking while eliminating the time needed for grocery shopping, meal preparation, and cleaning.
According to Roig, consumers face a growing scarcity of free time and increasingly prioritize efficiency for routine daily tasks. Shifting away from home cooking allows individuals to hand off repetitive kitchen duties to dependable commercial food services, freeing up valuable hours in their daily lives.
