No one got into meal kits for the fun of it. Packing up pre-prepared food for a customer perhaps hundreds of miles away was not the reason why most chefs got into the profession. And adding a series of logistical headaches reallocation of space, different quality-control standards, appropriate packaging, national distribution to an already tenuous business model was no restaurateur’s idea of a good time.
And yet as the COVID-19 pandemic intensified during the second half of 2020, more and more of London’s restaurants found themselves moving toward some form of prepare-at-home option often in addition to more conventional delivery, but in many cases entirely separate from it. Fast-casual brands like burger and pizza chains Patty & Bun and Pizza Pilgrims led the way, with the Pilgrims’ frying-pan pizza kits reportedly selling out in 37 seconds; in time, even Michelin-starred restaurants like Kitchen Table, Core by Clare Smyth, and Lyle’s were offering customers the oppor