Getting Together for a Meal (Kit)

Despite continued challenges in the meal kit industry, including the difficulty of retaining customers, high (and rising) operational and marketing costs, a demand curve that tends to be seasonal rather than steady, and more, the category has remained a viable one for many licensors. These include celebrities, especially chefs, and owners of family-friendly entertainment properties, among others.

The key players in this sector—especially Hello Fresh, Home Chef, and Blue Apron—have been involved in partnerships with IP owners for some time, and their collaborative activity has intensified since the start of 2022:

• Hello Fresh partnered with Marvel in April 2023 for a Snack Adventure Kit and Recipe Adventure Series tied to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, allowing fans to create Zarg Nut Bits, Mango Milky Fizz, and other galactic dishes. In 2022, Hello Fresh’s collaborators included the Nashville Predators, New York Islanders, and Los Angeles Kings of the NHL; actor Neil Patrick Harris and his husband, chef and cookbook author David Burtka, for a series of recipes and a comedic advertising campaign; and Warner Bros. for Buddy the Elf Spaghetti Meal Kits, complete with maple and chocolate syrup, marshmallows, and chocolate candies, pastries, and rice cereal, so fans can recreate Buddy’s preferred method of eating this dish in the movie Elf.

• Kroger-owned Home Chef paired with Life Time, the fitness chain, in January 2023, giving the latter’s members discounts on Home Chef meal kits through 2025. In 2022, Home Chef’s partners included Rachael Ray, for co-branded kits, with new recipes rolled out monthly across Home Chef’s Classic Meal Kit, Oven Ready, and Culinary Collection brands for a six-month period; chef Gina Homolka and her Skinnytaste brand, for a four-week offer of three rotating Skinnytaste recipes per week, plus two Classic Meal Kits available at Kroger stores; and Kevin Curry of FitMenCook, for a limited-time series of four recipes available online only.

• Blue Apron collaborated in April 2023 with cookbook author and cooking show host Molly Yeh for a limited-edition box featuring Asian-inspired recipes and a burger bar concept. The previous year, Blue Apron created a limited-time menu featuring Spanish-inspired dishes for Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, with DreamWorks Animation. Its third partnership with Disney/Pixar also occurred in 2022, featuring Lightyear, following themed meal kits tied to Luca in 2021 and Soul in 2020. Other tie-in partners have included Partnership for a Healthier America, for Pass the Love boxes featuring the characters from the food-and-cooking-themed show Waffles + Mochi, in 2021; chef Tim Hollingsworth for meal kits featuring four summer-themed recipes, in 2020; and Fox for Bob’s Burgers in 2018.

• Canadian company Fresh Prep collaborated with the Vietnamese restaurant Anh and Chi for two meals timed to the Lunar New Year, available through the first quarter of 2023.

• Now-defunct RealEats teamed with retailer GNC for meal kits in 2021, starting in four markets, and took the venture national in 2022. Consumers could purchase RealEats meals on GNC.com as well as ordering them for home delivery at GNC stores. RealEats shut down suddenly in March 2023.

These sorts of deals can take many forms. Some are promotional, focused on discounted mainline kits or accompanied by the chance to win merchandise or experiences, for example. Many are limited-time efforts, with some available to non-subscribers as well as subscribers. And some, albeit relatively few, are meant to be long-term programs.

In spite of the challenges in the meal kit model, researchers predict continued strong growth. Grandview Research valued the global market at more than $20.5 billion in 2022 and predicts a 15.3% compound annual growth rate from 2023 to 2030. In the U.S. market, it expects a CAGR of 14.2% over the same period.

Collaborations and licensing deals are likely to remain a key tool for companies in this space, meanwhile, as they try to differentiate themselves, retain current subscribers by continually offering them interesting new options, and reel in new customers that they can potentially convert into long-term subscribers.