It seems like every day there’s some breaking news coming from the meal kit industry. From mergers and acquisitions to new formats even targeting kids, Ketchum Food and its specialty food communications team, Cultivate, have the inside scoop with applicable takeaways for what it takes to rise above the chatter in this cluttered space.
Five Things to Know:
1. Consumers demand convenience, variety and better-for-you options while not losing taste and the ability to customize. The best way to standout is to know your most finicky customers: those that are winning are making it easier than ever to dip their toe into the meal kit world like Home Chef and its partnership with Kroger. Now you can get your meal kit at the same time you’re doing your weekly shopping and it just might make you a long-term customer. [Home Chef is a Ketchum client]
2. So you get a customer, but how do you get repeat purchase? The fact is, loyalty doesn’t exist and eating options abound. Innovating and creating new customer experiences from adding unexpected items like bottles of wines, linens and other items to really dial up the experience are starting to help in the bid for loyalty.
3. Staying memorable is especially tough in a crowded space. Partnering with celebrities and big names can help. Recently Home Chef paired up with Mario Menounos to infuse the brand in pop culture and dial-up the cool factor.
4. Retail chains and consumer shopping patterns continue to evolve and impact meal kit business models. To be one of the fast-movers, meal kit brands need to be quick, nimble and adapt to evolving tastes fast.
5. Data is king and keeping meal kit companies alive. These data-driven companies know the power of tools that consistently monitor customer satisfaction, consumer feedback and social media conversations. Focus groups and consumer testing is always at the forefront. In the case of many of these companies, they’ve been nimble enough to shift recipes and troubleshoot issues in real time, elevating and improving their customer service satisfaction overall
So, what’s next for this tumultuous industry? It’s hard to say for sure, but what’s clear is that consumers continue to demand convenient and unique food delivery formats that fit their busy lifestyles and companies will continue to find ways to cash in through new channels to meet that demand.
Communications efforts must adapt to a startup mentality to win share of stomach in this volatile and daily-changing environment.
