Canadians turning to meal kits
Those who don’t cook are increasingly seeking convenience of food-delivery services
Experts say Canadians are spending less time cooking meals from scratch at home and are increasingly turning to the convenience of food-delivery services, including the burgeoning meal-kit market.
Research by marketing analysis company NPD Group suggests 75 per cent of all meals are prepared in 15 minutes or less as Canadians rely on more shortcuts in the kitchen.
That’s given rise to more varieties of frozen food, prepared meals and side dishes at grocery stores and companies that deliver food right to consumers’ doors.
Meal-kit companies say they help harried home cooks by delivering customizable preportioned fresh ingredients in insulated packaging along with step-by-step recipes, removing the need to plan meals or shop for groceries.
“The delivery market in Canada seems to be really growing quite dramatically and a lot of that is being driven by the technology, so people ordering through apps and websites and whatnot,” says Robert Carter, executive director of food service at NPD Group.
“Consumers equate fresh, not frozen, meals to being healthier and better for you, so I think meal kits are also speaking to that trend,” he adds.
The company is categorizing the trend as “digital-door spending,” including traditional delivery services for pizza and chicken, newer players such as Just Eat and UberEats that drop restaurant meals at customers’ doors, and meal-kit providers.
“Last year, digital-door spending by consumers actually topped $1 billion in Canada, which is incredible,” says Carter, adding the trend is being driven by millennials, those in the 18- to 34-year-old age group. “At the end of the day, convenience is the No. 1 driver of consumer behaviour as it relates to food. The easier you make it, consumers will respond . ... Meal kits are also speaking to that convenience factor.”
Food-marketing research company Technomic reported earlier this year the global meal-kit market topped $1 billion US in 2015 and is projected to reach $10 billion by 2020.
Canadian consumers have a range of meal-kit options to choose from. Chefs Plate launched in 2014 and says it’s now delivering more than 100,000 meals in Canada each month in Ontario, B.C., Alberta and Manitoba. Berlin-based HelloFresh, founded in 2011, moved into Canada last month and operates in eight other countries.
Home goods guru Martha Stewart is getting on the bandwagon, linking with existing kit company Marley Spoon. Other celebs are also lending their names to meal kits, including TV chef Jamie Oliver who appears in ads for HelloFresh, and cookbook author Mark Bittman, who joined vegan meal-kit company Purple Carrot last year.
The kits are convenient but generally more expensive than home cooking, says registered dietitian Andrea D’Ambrosio, who does nutrition counselling in her Dietetic Directions company. A one-meal serving can cost $5 to $12, an expensive alternative for a family of five. Though some consider kits a step up from takeout processed food, D’Ambrosio suggests taking a look. “If you’re going to go for takeout versus coming home and assembling a meal kit, you probably might be better going with your meal kit. But the nutritional value of the meal kit does vary in quite a range,” says the Kitchenerbased spokesperson for Dietitians of Canada, adding some have almost a day’s worth of saturated fat or half a day’s worth of sodium.