Darren 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.
Packages Facts says the U.S. 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. UberEats, for example, will deliver a restaurant meal for $3.99 plus a service fee. Chefs for Seniors promises a visit from an in-home chef, 12 meal servings and clean-up for $99 plus groceries.
But he thinks the most successful companies will also branch out into grocery stores or delivery, offering on-demand meal kits. Seifer's research has shown that up to 60% of Americans don't know what's for dinner at 4:30 p.m. They want easy options they can pick up on their way home.
I use Sun Basket, which isn’t mentioned in your story, the most. Yes, it’s not as convenient as getting takeout but the point is to still be getting a fancier meal than I otherwise would prep for and home-cooking it to control oil and sodium intake.
Grubhub and Doordash will bring you dinner all prepared, no dishes to clean up.