Individually packaged food items ()
For many on-the-go families, the simple act of getting a decent meal on the table at the end of the day can be a constant struggle. When last-minute time constraints quash the best of intentions to produce a home-cooked meal, restaurant takeaways or frozen pizza can be a godsend, but after a while, these routines can quickly grow old or blow up the household budget.
Small wonder, perhaps, that the meal kit phenomenon, in which all the ingredients needed to prepare a delicious home-cooked meal are posted directly to your door, has proved such a hit with many hard-working people who find there just aren’t enough hours in the day.
Could meal kits be the answer to what’s for dinner tonight?
The rise of the pre-planned meal-in-a-box phenomenon is a fairly recent one. Although it sounds like an idea that would have been birthed in the U.S., the meal-in-the-box concept is actually credited to entrepreneurs from Sweden, who brought their ideas to market back in 2007. The meal-kit industry has grown steadily since, both in the U.S. and throughout much of Europe. Meal kits experienced an additional boost in popularity when COVID-19 concerns made the idea of staying home all the more appealing.
In Germany, a number of companies provide their customers with all they need to cook up tasty, well-balanced meals perfectly aligned with their dietary preferences. On the face of things, the meal kits dispatched by various companies jostling for market share aren’t vastly different from one another. The model by which they distribute is also similar.
Once per week, each company dispatches a box containing all the prepared ingredients needed to create two or more home-cooked meals. Would-be subscribers to such services first go online to indicate the number of household members to be fed and the amount of meals per week desired. Would-be home cooks need to supply some of their own basic ingredients, for example oil and salt, and they’ll need at least a few kitchen utensils such as strainers and graters.
Companies are quick to tout the advantages of the meal kit. As only the amount of product called for in the recipe is shipped out, there’s less food that goes to waste. Thanks to their easy-to-follow recipes, adventurous eaters can easily dabble in new tastes. And there’s no need to negotiate the aisles of a supermarket in a frantic last-minute search for obscure ingredients.
Of course, there are some downsides to the meal-kit model. In order to keep the ingredients cool and unbruised, kits are sent out in a considerable amount of packaging. Although the service can be postponed, arrangements must be carried out several days in advance, meaning a last-minute trip out of town could leave a meal box languishing on one’s doorstep. And with many of the meals for two coming in at a cost starting at 4 to 5 euros per portion, many families might find that there’s not much of a savings factor involved.
Those based in Germany may be wondering just how user-friendly meal kits, known locally as “Kochboxen,” might be, particularly those whose German language skills aren’t great. What good, after all, is a recipe written down in a language you can’t understand? We break down the offers of some of the largest meal kit providers in Germany: HelloFresh, Marley Spoon and Dinnerly.
This Berlin-based company launched in 2011 and enjoys the biggest market share of the meal kit industry in Germany. Customers choose their preferred type of meals according to the following categories: meat and vegetables; fish and vegetables; vegetarian; family-friendly; well-balanced and time-saving. They then choose between two, three or four persons to be fed and between receiving the ingredients for three, four or five meals per week. After having set up an account, the customer selects the date and time of delivery and inputs the payment method. Deliveries then take place on a weekly basis. The service can be changed, paused or cancelled up to 11:59 p.m. before the ordering deadline for the following week (although the first order cannot be cancelled, once it has been placed). More than 34 different meal choices are made available to the customer each week.
Germany’s second-largest meal kit provider is also a Berlin-based enterprise. With Marley Spoon, customers choose between kits meant to cook meals for either two or four persons from twice to five times per week. Each week, subscribers receive an email informing them of the dishes they can cook with the ingredients they’ll receive for the coming week, and if they don’t care for some of the choices, they can make substitutions. They can also cancel or pause the service up to six days before their upcoming order is set to arrive. Marley Spoon customers can choose between three weekly delivery dates and morning or evening delivery times. A total of 30 meal choices are offered on a weekly basis.
Dinnerly, which is owned by Marley Spoon, is positioned as the budget-friendly option amongst meal kits. Subscribers can select kits for either two or four persons and for three, four or five meals per week. They also have the option to select their own dishes and to put a pause on delivery up to six days before an upcoming order is set to arrive. Vegetarian options are available.
In order to encourage new customers to sign up, companies will often offer a discount on the first order placed, and each one allows existing customers to cancel the service altogether. All companies work with major credit cards and PayPal. Note that none of the three providers listed above has an English language option for their customers based in Germany.
Could such a service be the answer to your dinner dilemmas? If it’s the shopping and meal inspiration that’s been bogging you down, meal kit services might just be worth a shot.
