High fuel prices and other economic factors have led many consumers to sacrifice dining at restaurants to stay home and eat prepared foods from the supermarket instead, reports Brandweek.

Some argue that the frozen food category is also suddenly hot.

Traffic for casual dining, a segment that includes Applebee's, Ruby Tuesdays and TGI Friday's, fell 0.3 percent in the first quarter of 2008. But industry watchers say those ex-diners aren't necessarily cooking at home. Instead, they're gravitating to prepared foods at supermarkets like Publix and Whole Foods Market.

The Food Marketing Institute (FMI) also released a survey of 2,020 last week showing that 71 percent of respondents say they are cooking at home more and eating out less at restaurants.

"They're trading down and trading out," said Ron Paul, president of Technomic, Chicago. Paul said the last time consumers abandoned higher-end restaurants (where waiter service is offered and tips are required), Boston Market was well-positioned to benefit from the change. "Boston Market was a factor," he said, "but they disappeared."

Prepared foods account for almost $5 billion a year in sales at supermarkets nationally, per the International Dairy•Deli•Bakery Association in Madison, Wis.

Meanwhile, there's some evidence that consumers may be reaching for frozen dinners -- at least some of them -- more often. Overall, the $6.3 billion industry was flat from last year, growing only 2 percent, according to IRI, a Chicago-based market research firm, whose figures exclude Wal-Mart and warehouse clubs.

Earlier this month, JP Morgan analyst Pablo Zuanic wrote a note to clients stating that Heinz's entire frozen dinners platform -- a slate that includes Smart Ones and Boston Market -- was up 42 percent in the prior four weeks, a rate he called "remarkable." But other analysts who follow the segment say it's less a case of a mass consumer embrace of the category than continued innovations, most notably a new wave of "steamer" products which claim to do a better job retaining the taste than prior microwaveable dinners. "A lot of it comes down to product innovation," said Matt Arnold, an analyst for Edward Jones, who said the steamers offer "a slightly better-tasting meal than what you tend to usually get."

Another bright spot is frozen pizza, a category that rose 5.3 percent last year, per IRI. Jamie Mattikow, VP-marketing for Kraft Pizza Co., said premium pizza lines, like Digiorno and California Pizza Kitchen, were driving sales. "We're seeing a lot of growth in new products," Mattikow said, adding that additional growth was expected in the company's Digiorno For One pizza line and its newest offering, Digiorno Ultimate Focaccia pizza products, which was introduced this month.