Does almost a year Juan Roig astonished everyone and everyone with a prediction that sounded almost like dystopian science fiction. In his opinion, shared the founder of Mercadona, ceramic hobs, ovens, extractor hoods and other culinary appliances have their days numbered in homes. “I said it and I maintain it: in the middle of the 21st century there will be no kitchens,” claimed. It is not that we are going to stop eating at home. We will simply arrive there with our already prepared dishes, stews, pastas, fish… that have previously been prepared in supermarkets.
Sector data suggest that Roig was not wrong. Perhaps it is too early to know if the kitchens are mortally wounded, but one thing is clear: the prepared meals business is growing and Mercadona has been able to position itself in it.
A percentage: 51.2%. That Mercadona has found the key to become the heavyweight in the sector is nothing new. The data may vary from one study to another, but in general they show that the Valencian company has managed to gain a market share of between 25 and 30%.
The curious thing is that there is a niche in which its dominance is even greater: that of the distribution of prepared dishes. According to Algori data advanced by Food Retail In that segment its footprint reaches a surprising (and overwhelming) 51.2%.
Getting perspective. The percentage is striking in itself, but it is even more curious when it is put into context and both the overall results of the company and that of its direct rivals are taken into account. Mercadona’s share in the prepared meals segment (54.2%) far exceeds that of the chain as a whole called “FMCG”the total of fast-moving consumer goods. Its footprint in that business niche is ‘only’ 36.9%.
As for the rest of the chains, their weight in the cooked food business is much lower. The second best positioned is Grupo Carrefour, with 9.9%, followed by Lidl (8.1%) and (already quite a distance away) Consum (3.9%). Food Retail specifies that the data refers to the “modern distribution”the large-scale sales channel in stores such as supermarkets or hypermarkets.
A growing sector…Beyond how each company is doing or the slice of the pie they are taking, Algori data They reflect that prepared dishes represent an increasingly juicy business. According to the consulting firm’s report, its sales have grown by 8.9% year-on-year, almost double that of the total FMCG (5.3%). The pace of purchase stands out above all, which gives us a clue of its growing success among households. While mass consumption as a whole has risen a discreet 0.8% in 2025, prepared food rose by 6.2%.
…and it diversifies. In its analysis Algori also explores what we Spaniards buy when we go to Mercadona, Lidl, Carrefour stores… in search of already cooked dishes. And its conclusion is clear. Almost all branches of the business are growing. Meat-based dishes increased by around 18%, as did creams and gazpachos, which already represent 23% of all sales.
Even though we Spaniards buy and cook less and less fishsupermarket menus based on this food also grew by 13%, even more than pasta and rice (10%), tortillas (10%) or pizzas (3%). The report does not clarify whether this data is related to the (increasingly common and diversified) supply of sushi and salmon pokés in supermarkets.
“Ready to eat”. These data have little of mystery. As it has become clear This Christmas (and it is not something exclusive to the holidays), we Spaniards are less and less willing to spend hours in the kitchen. The reason? Cultural changes, lack of time, a restructuring of families and even changes in homessmaller and therefore with less space to cook.
The industry itself dedicated to the preparation of dishes detected in 2024 an increase in demand of 6.6%, which left average consumption at almost 17.2 kg per person per year. Mercadona has been able to read that scenario and has been betting for years for a specific section of already prepared menus: “Ready to eat”. In 2024 the service was available in 1,260 of its premises.
Goodbye cooking? The question that these data leave behind is… Was Roig right when he predicted that by the middle of this century kitchens will have lost ground in Spanish homes? Algori data certainly demonstrates a growing interest in ready-made dishes. Others however, such as a report published in 2025 in the academic journal TIJFGSshow that the majority of Spaniards (59%) still put on our apron daily.
Images | Andalusian Government (Flickr) and Mercadona
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings