By George Nott2021-05-04T16:09:00+01:00
Let there be no doubt: meal kits are booming. European giant HelloFresh reported yet another bumper quarter of growth today, in which revenue more than doubled. Subscriber counts are soaring. “We’ve welcomed more customers than ever,” said a beaming CEO and co-founder Dominik Richter.
It’s a sign of wider acceptance of the recipe box format since the pandemic began. Last month, rival Gousto announced record sales for 2020, pushing the company to profitability for the first time since launch. Gousto is now shifting a meal kit every three seconds.
Retailers and big brands are taking notice. Last month Tesco teamed up with recipe box service SimplyCook to launch an in-store meal kit offer. At the tail end of last year, Nestlé acquired a majority stake in Mindful Chef, and made the same move on SimplyCook in February. With “increasing interest of consumers in food as well as subscription services”, Nestlé told The Grocer, such busi