Technomic Inc. will explore the future of the meal kit market at the 2017 Consumer Direct Conference held at Google Chicago.
CHICAGO, Nov. 18, 2016—The U.S. currently represents the largest single market for meal kits worldwide—a channel that has quickly grown to a multi-billion dollar industry over the last several years. This year, consumers have numerous new options to order the ingredients for their Thanksgiving meal from a meal kit service. As the busy holiday season approaches, many consumers are open to the idea—indicating an important shift in consumer preferences when it comes to food sourcing.
“Many players in the meal kit business are testing holiday packages as a way to expand the ways in which they serve customers,” says Erik Thoresen, principal with Technomic’s technology advisory practice. “Thanksgiving represents an important opportunity to build awareness among non-users, particularly as large groups of family and friends gather together.”
The actual number of consumers turning to meal kits this Thanksgiving is still a very small number compared to the tens of millions of households that will be preparing meals using store-bought ingredients. Several meal kit companies are going up against traditional grocers to capture a portion of the Thanksgiving Day food dollar as reported by Technomic’s latest consumer research.
Highlights from Technomic’s November 2016 survey of 1,500 consumers on meal kits include:
- Consumers under age 35 are more than twice as likely than older consumers to have used a meal kit service within the last three months
- While only 16% of non-users would consider ordering their Thanksgiving dinner from a meal kit company, the percentage jumps to 51% among existing meal kit service users
- Forty-three percent (43%) of meal kit users believe that a Thanksgiving dinner from a meal kit company would boost the quality of their Thanksgiving day feast, compared to only 17% of non-users
“Thanksgiving and other holidays represent a useful opportunity for meal kit companies to build awareness and gain exposure among consumers as they gather together to celebrate,” comments Thoresen. Technomic will complete a larger study on meal kits and the consumer direct channel in advance of the Consumer Direct Conference which will be held at Google Chicago on March 16, 2017.
To learn more, purchase the full Consumer Direct Study or obtain registration or sponsorship details for the conference, please contact Erik Thoresen at 312-506-3815 or erikthoresen@technomic.com