Some have even rolled out heat-and-eat options and dropped the "meal kit" name as the line between the trendy movement and traditional prepared foods gets erased.
Companies have rolled out kits with pre-chopped ingredients and two- and three-step recipes to cut down on complexity. Cost: 140 (84 with Walmart Plus) In addition to classic meal kits that you cook at home, Walmart is selling Blue Apron's prepared meals in packs of six for 90. Meisterdish, a company that provides technology and culinary expertise to help retailers make their own fresh meal kits, partnered with Schnucks on a fresh meal station at its flagship store in St. Kroger riffed on the meal kit concept with "Easy For You!", its in-store service stations where customers can select frozen entrees and sides to take home and heat up. But as the concept's popularity - and profitability - waned, retailers and companies like FreshRealm have offered new interpretations that are centered on convenience and better suited for grocery aisles. Meal kits grew to popularity as a cook-by-numbers bundle of fresh ingredients shipped to customers.
The company has plans to expand its Cookery Complete line with other retailers over time, and the branded meals will also be available to order from Grubhub and DoorDash this summer for customers in the Los Angeles market. While most retail meal kits are placed in the deli prepared foods section, FreshRealm’s meal kits will be set up in Giant Eagle’s meat and seafood departments in front of the service counters in its own case to showcase the raw protein element.įounder and CEO of FreshRealm Michael Lippold told Grocery Dive the ready-to-cook product line with raw protein is something that doesn’t currently exist on a national level.