They want easy options they can pick up on their way home. Seifer's research has shown that up to 60% of Americans don't know what's for dinner at 4:30 p.m. They have a lot of appeal for people with specific dietary needs, he said.īut he thinks the most successful companies will also branch out into grocery stores or delivery, offering on-demand meal kits. Seifer said there is a place for subscription-based meal plans. Chefs for Seniors promises a visit from an in-home chef, 12 meal servings and clean-up for $99 plus groceries. UberEats, for example, will deliver a restaurant meal for $3.99 plus a service fee. meal kit market grew 22% to $3.1 billion in 2018, but it expects that growth to decelerate over the next five years because of competition. HelloFresh bought organic meal kit provider Green Chef last year, for example.

He expects consolidation, which is already happening. 'It's a very crowded space, with a lot of companies not paying too much attention to the bottom line,' he said.

Albertons grocery chain, for instance, acquired the Plated brand in 2017 while Kroger acquired Home Chef last year.ĭarren Seifer, a food industry analyst with the consulting firm NPD Group, said the meal kit market feels like the dot-com boom of the late 1990s. Meal kit company Chef'd closed its doors last July. Blue Apron's customer base fell 25% to 557,000 between 20.

It's been losing customers, who quickly tire of its relatively high prices - $9.99 per serving for a two-person plan - as well as its subscription plan, which forces them to be less spontaneous. 'Meal kits are a more expensive but less convenient option for busy people who do not have time to cook,' said Cara Brosius, a market research analyst with Packaged Facts.īrosius said meal kit customers have also complained about limited menu selection, poor quality of ingredients and too much packaging.īlue Apron hasn't made a profit since its 2017 IPO. And once kits arrive, subscribers still have to put the ingredients together. It also costs a lot for companies to prepare, package and ship fresh ingredients, so meal prices are high.

Blue apron expensive