The food delivery service HelloFresh announced its retail introduction selling meal kits in 581 Giant Food and Stop & Shop stores owned by Ahold Delhaize U.S.A.
The meal kits are expected to cost between $14.99 and $19.99, featuring options such as Peppercorn Steak and Mediterranean Style Chicken. In a press release, HelloFresh said the meals offered in the kits will take less than 30 minutes to cook.
To support the move into retail, HelloFresh built out its network from five to 11 facilities and plans more expansion in the future. The company also designed unique packaging to optimize shelf space and drive profitable revenue streams for the grocer.
“How we’ve been embraced by retail brands shows the quality product line HelloFresh has brought to market,” said Tobias Hartmann, President for North America at HelloFresh.
“HelloFresh strikes a chord with households that want fresh dinners on the table, without artificial ingredients or overly complicated recipes. The addition of retail, a channel well-placed to benefit from the unique data, brand and infrastructure assets we have built out over the years, allows us to better address the everyday needs for even more customers, adding what we view as a highly complementary customer segment,” added Hartmann.
As an independent food brand, HelloFresh will partner to increase its availability with more retailers throughout the year, including revitalizing the grab and go aisles for smaller format retail chains.
The USA Today reported that HelloFresh’s move into retail is the latest in a larger trend toward meal delivery services offering their prep kits beyond online marketplaces. Last month, Blue Apron announced it would start selling meal kits at retailer Costco. Meanwhile, Walmart revealed in March it is taking its meal kits nationwide, offering them in more than 2,000 stores over the course of the year.
“Our retail line reduces the pressure on grocers to create these meals themselves and easily integrates into growing areas of their business such as online grocery and delivery,” said Hartmann.
The New York-based meal kit company conducted global pilot programs to optimize its retail brand for taste and freshness, but also with a keen focus on how to make convenient meal kits successful for grocers.
Information provided by Business Wire.