IS YOUR RESTAURANT EMBRACING THE HOME-COOKED-MEAL TREND THIS HOLIDAY?
T he Covid-19 pandemic has forced people to limit their non-essential activities, such as dining out and travel. Subsequently, curbside pickup and delivery services in both restaurants and grocery stores got a boost. THE SURGE OF THE MEAL KIT BUSINESS When Covid-19 hit in early 2020, more people decided to order meal kits and groceries online, primarily to avoid direct interactions with other people in a crowded retail space. Some people were pushed to do that because restaurants were shut down for dine-in services. After consumers tried meal kits and realized how convenient they were, they tended to order more and likely developed a habit. The meal kit and prepared meal business continued to grow in 2021 and shows no signs of slowing down. HOME CHEF HAS SURPASSED $1 BILLION IN ANNUAL SALES IN OCTOBER 2021 Home Chef is a Kroger ’s arm for meal kit and prepared meal business. Home Chef was able to capitalize on the consumer trend of cooking and eating more at home due to the pandemic. In 2020, Home Chef had already achieved a 118% year-to-year growth rate (Gangloff, 2021).
WHY SHOULD RESTAURANTS GET INTO THE MEAL KIT BUSINESS TOO? Some restaurants are already selling meal kits. Restaurants have everything needed for a chef-prepared, precooked meal business. They have the recipes ready, or they can easily adjust their recipes for prepared home- cookedmeals. Most of all, many restaurants have already been providing curbside pickup and delivery services to their customers. Adding meal kits to the menu does not need to reinvent the wheels. n Meal kits are usually prepared during off-peak hours, allowing a restaurant to utilize the under- used resources better. n It creates a new revenue stream for a restaurant. n It requires almost no service staff or space to sell meal kits. n It maintains a bound relationship with a restaurant’s existing customers. n It helps a restaurant reach new customers for dine-in later. If your restaurant has not yet begun selling meal kits or chef-prepared, precooked meals yet, this holiday season may just be the right time to do so. Act now and capitalize on the home-cook meal trend. n THE BENEFITS OF SERVING MEAL KITS IN RESTAURANTS
LINCHI KWOK, PH.D.
CONTRIBUTING WRITER linchikwok.net
REFERENCES Gangloff C. (2021, October 26). Packaged Facts Analyst comments on Home Chef hitting the $1 billion mark as the meal kit industry continues to benefit from pandemic eating trends. Yahoo Finance. Retrieve on November 20, 2021, via https://finance.yahoo.com/news/packaged-facts-analyst-comments-home-001000613.html
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