Meal kit market heats up
A New Zealand supermarket giant is the latest company to jump on board the meal kit wagon.
Foodstuffs, the owner of New World and Pak’n Save, has starting making single, ready-to-cook meals – much like those sold by My Food Bag, Farro Fresh, and Foodbox.
The company’s group general manager of marketing, Steve Bayliss, said they differed from others, as customers did not have to buy a week’s worth of meals.
He believed customers would like the convenience of ‘‘slipping a meal kit or two’’ into their online order, or shopping trolleys.
The company is still in the trial phase, which started in the South Island and Auckland but has since expanded to Wellington.
New World Thorndon, which is the only supermarket in the capital to trial the Just Cook It meal kits at this stage, is the first to offer them online and in store.
The kits are prepared daily, and the options change every week with new recipes. They serve two or four people.
My Food Bag founder Cecilia Robinson said she welcomed another company to the market, as it meant the meal-kit market grew.
‘‘My Food Bag has done a lot of heavy lifting in this space and competition is a good thing. The new Just Cook It range will no doubt up the ante in the meal-kit market, but, you know what they say, imitation is the best form of flattery.’’
New World Thorndon retail manager Reese Drake said most people had 10 to 12 go-to dishes ‘‘which can get pretty boring, pretty quickly’’.
‘‘We know our customers are time poor, so creating meal ideas which are on the table in 30 minutes was critical.’’
Foodstuffs was looking to offer the kits throughout the country ‘‘over the coming months’’.