Meal Kits Evolving Expanding and Extending the Halo of ‘Better for You’

 

The consumer is dynamic not static, and food retailers must evolve as fast as the consumer or risk losing customer relevance according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Within the food space all food marketers understand that the consumer {time + value + service equilibrium}, must be maintained in order drive relevant messaging to current consumer and incremental consumers according to Johnson.

Recently, Just Salad launched Housemade, a no-commitment meal kit and grocery service available within delivery range of all of Just Salad’s locations in New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Chicago, and South Florida. Housemade offers a variety of zero-prep, one-pan meal kits in zero-plastic packaging, grocery staples, and prepared foods from the existing Just Salad menu.

Just Salad’s, Housemade is reinventing what a meal kit can and should be, with a number of unique features including the following:

·         Zero-plastic meal kit packaging that is curbside-recyclable or compostable

·         60 minute delivery with no scheduling required

·         Available in single servings

·         Zero prep (that means no chopping onions) and ready in 15 minutes or less

Nick Kenner, CEO and Founder at Just Salad stated, “We’re launching the next generation of meal kits,” ... “With 14 micro-fulfillment centers across five major markets, we can offer unparalleled flexibility with 60-minute deliveries and no commitments. We’ve been able to go above and beyond to provide the most sustainable meal kit packaging out there. This is going to be a game changer for the meal kit industry.”

Johnson agrees saying “Meal kits save consumers time.  Since 1991 the team at Foodservice Solutions® has found time to be a key driver when consumers are planning, cooking, or buying a meal.  Over the last 7 years sustainable packaging has continued to climb in importance to consumers. Thus, Just Salads is hitting two key top-of-mind consumer path to purchase road blocks.

Meal Kit brand, Housemade’s menu features seven one-pan recipes, including a Buffalo Chicken Bowl and Taco Tuesday Bowl. The variety includes two kits that are completely vegan and one that features plant-based Beyond Beef® extending the halo of ‘better-for-you’.  Regular readers of this blog might recall that these offerings evolved from Just Grocery, a service we shared with them Housemade will also carry an assortment of everyday groceries and greens–from avocados ripe for guacamole to restaurant quality produce to Just Salad's signature dressings.

This is key, in contrast to mail order meal kit brands, Housemade uses 91 percent less packaging by weight. Containers are curbside-recyclable or compostable, recipe cards contain explicit disposal instructions, and the product labels are water soluble. That means no cardboard clutter, no dry ice, and nothing that needs to go to landfill. Once again that helps extend the halo and brand messaging relevance for consumers according to Johnson.

Convenience and simplicity is key when it comes to Housemade, which has no order minimum or subscription requirements. Customers can order single or multiple serving meal options and have it scheduled for same-day delivery.

Kenner continued, “2020 swiftly and substantially changed the way we all shop and dine. Housemade alleviates a lot of the headaches when it comes to planning meals and ordering grocery staples. The service reflects our mission to make everyday health and sustainability possible.”

Housemade is available at www.gethousemade.com  with meal kits affordably priced between $10.49 - $11.49 per serving and restaurant quality groceries at competitive prices. Housemade meal kits are also available on Grubhub and UberEats. How dynamic is your brand? Are you getting ‘better’?

Success does leave clues. One clue that time and time again continues to resurface is “the consumer is dynamic not static”.  Regular readers of this blog know that is the common refrain of Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  Our Grocerant Guru® can help your company edify your brand with relevance.  Call 253-759-7869 for more information.