NFRA: The Voice of the Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Industry

The National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Association was founded in 1945 as "The National Wholesale Frozen Food Distributors." At a meeting in New York City’s Yale Club, forty-two representatives of 36 distributing firms chartered the organization under the leadership of Burton Prince of New Haven, Connecticut.

In his opening address, Prince stated the purpose of the new Association was to give the distributors a "single voice" with which to deal with the government and other segments of the frozen food industry on issues of concern to the wholesale distributors. Though the Association has changed in many ways since those formative years, the concept of NFRA as the collective voice of the frozen and refrigerated dairy foods industry remains true today.

The early years of NFRA were difficult both for the Association and the industry as a whole. Despite improved cooperation between the packer segment and the distributors, frozen food market share did not improve. There were several reasons for the lack of growth. First, refrigerator/freezers were still not in widespread use in the 1940s. Second, public perceptions of frozens were not high; and third, public and trade presses persisted in calling attention to the high costs and excessive inventories of frozen foods. Despite these disappointing facts, NFRA persevered.

As the Association entered the 1950s it counted a membership of 107 distributors and 46 associate packer and broker members. In recognition of the broadened membership, the word "Wholesale" was dropped from the organization title in 1955. Four years later, the word "Distributors" was dropped and the Association became known as the National Frozen Food Association. In 2001, the refrigerated dairy foods department was incorporated into the Association because of its similarities to frozen in both the retail and foodservice markets and the Association was renamed the National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Association to recognize its broadened membership. Today, NFRA has grown to over 400 corporate members from every segment of the industry.

Through the years, NFRA has evolved to meet the growing needs of both the retail and foodservice sectors by providing many quality programs and services.

• Marketing Research
  • Ice Cream & Novelties Performance in U.S. Supermarkets
  • Understanding the Frozen Food Consumer
  • Activity Based Cost Management for Improved Understanding of Frozen Food Profitability
  • The Effects of Trade Promotions and Out-of-Stocks on the Frozen Food Department
  • Strategic Space Allocation for Frozen Foods
  
• Websites
  • Association website: www.nfraweb.org
  • Consumer website: www.EasyHomeMeals.com
  
• Publications
  • Annual Report
  • Membership Directory
  • NFRA Update e-newsletter
  • Promotion Works! e-newsletter
  • Year-Round Promotional Planning Guide
  
• Education & Training
  • Serving Freshness with Frozen Food sales/training CD
  • Certificate of Excellence
  
• Industry Meetings
  • Annual Retail Executive Conference
  • National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Convention
  • Support of Local Frozen Food Association Efforts
  
• Industry Promotions
  • March National Frozen Food Month
  • October Frozen Food Festival
  • June Dairy Month
  • June/July Ice Cream & Novelties Promotion
  • Frozen Foods —Fresh Ideas. Great Taste. and Cool • Tasty • Wholesome – Refrigerated Foods all-industry marketing/public relations campaigns