17% of Adults Receive Meal Kit Delivery

The food industry is in the process of returning to a customer-centric "full service" approach that was commonplace a century ago. This industry approach faded with the development of self-service groceries prior to World War One. Several decades afterward, self-service grocery stores evolved into supermarkets, superstores, and warehouse clubs that offered a "do-it-yourself" kind of convenience as well as lower-priced, varied food options. 

Why Does the Food Industry Care About Convenience?

Most industry observers chalk it up to:

• Consumers stressed from work
• Adults working longer hours
• More women choosing work over domestic life
• Long supermarket trips

Meal kit delivery, covered in Packaged Facts' new report Meal Kits Delivery Services in the U.S., 2nd Edition, represents both the food industry's response to consumer demand for convenience, as well as technology's role in working adults' lifestyles. Big-name meal kit delivery service providers all advertise enticing images of their products through websites and social media, and deliver meal kits complete with pre-measured & high quality ingredients straight to consumers' doorsteps. 

Who is Purchasing Meal Kit Delivery?

The food industry already addresses delivery service with prepared food. Meal kits fill a market niche, however, by offering convenience to consumers who still want to engage (to an extent) in their food preparation. Packaged Facts' proprietary survey data report that:

• Nearly one-fifth (17%) of U.S. adults receive meal kits delivery services
• One-third (33%) of consumers familiar with meal kits have used free product trials
• Nearly all (97%) of meal kit delivery subscribers use the company they first signed up with

Meal kit delivery services set themselves apart from food industry channels such as grocery retail and foodservice through their engaging products. Attractive to working adults, meal kit delivery services satisfy consumers who want high quality food ingredients & hands-on meal preparation without sacrificing too much convenience. 

Age is the strongest predictor of who purchases meal kit delivery subscription services; subscribers are likely to be partnered parents living in urban settings.  Packaged Facts' data show that meal kit subscribers have children in the household at a usage rate indexed at more than double the average for all U.S. adults. Noticing a market opportunity, some meal kit companies such as Sun Basket feature products meant to be kid-friendly. Another meal delivery service provider, Foodstirs, focuses on desserts - specifically baked goods - which make it easy for parents to involve their children in cooking from meal kits. 

Meal kits also allow couples, with or without kids,to share time together. Meal kits delivery service provider Feastive has plunged into the market as a niche player focusing on party-size meal kits. Feastive encourages customers to let their guests help cook create a communal cooking activity. For consumers seeking convenience as well as high-quality food and ingredients, meal kit delivery services offer the recipe for satisfaction. 

View more information about Packaged Facts’ coverage of the meal kit delivery services market here. You can also visit our 'Meal Kit Delivery Services' page, Packaged Facts' all-in-one resource on meal kit delivery. 

More Packaged Facts reports on foods and beverages are available for purchase at: https://www.packagedfacts.com/food-beverage-market-c84/.

--Howard Waxman