The “Frozen Award 2025 Awards Ceremony,” hosted by Nippon Access, was held in Tokyo on December 11. In its 13th year, a total of 188 products from 46 companies across frozen foods, ice cream, and pet food competed, with the top products in each category determined by consumer web voting.
At the top of the frozen foods category was Ajinomoto Frozen Foods’ “AJINOMOTO BRAND Gyoza,” which took the honor for the sixth consecutive year. In the ice cream category, Haagen-Dazs Japan’s “Mini Cup The Milk” was selected, while in the pet food category, AIXIA’s “Hamburg Steak and Warm Vegetables” was chosen.
Shinya Hattori, President of Nippon Access, emphasized, “Retail and food service are performing steadily due to the increase in inbound visitors and price revisions, but there is no guarantee that these tailwinds will continue. Our role is not only to transport products, but also to communicate their value and the thoughts of their makers, and to uncover latent demand. We want to think of ways to encourage shoppers to pick up one more item and create a new market.”
In fiscal 2024, the market reached record highs in both categories, with frozen foods at 1.3017 trillion yen and ice cream at 645.1 billion yen. Against this favorable backdrop, this year’s campaign was developed with an even stronger focus on expanding sales.
Voting in the general election course reached a record-high 4,070,180 votes, up 7 percent year on year, while receipt-based entries totaled 74,403, up 37 percent. The short drama series, which followed last year’s effort, recorded more than 3.7 million cumulative views. Reflecting growing public interest, frozen pet food and ice cream categories were also newly established.
Akio Fuchinoue, Executive Officer in charge of Product Management and Marketing at Nippon Access, summed up the event by saying, “Frozen Award was launched to energize October and November, when each company’s sales promotions tend to weaken. This year again, it generated excitement both in voting and at store shelves. The supporting stores have shown growth exceeding overall market conditions, which is the result of everyone’s cooperation. We would like to continue these efforts to connect consumers and manufacturers going forward.”
A representative from Ajinomoto Frozen Foods, which achieved its sixth straight victory, said, “Frozen gyoza is the first entry point when consumers buy frozen foods for the first time. We want to further enhance its value as a gateway to broadening the category and increase opportunities for people to pick it up.”
Kyoko Igarashi, President of Haagen-Dazs Japan, whose company won first place in five ice cream subcategories, said with a smile, “‘The Milk’ is our third challenge in milk ice cream, simply expressing the deliciousness of milk from the Konsen area of Hokkaido. We are honored that it has been chosen as a signature flavor alongside vanilla.”
