By Gordon Dickson
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
WWR Article Summary (tl;dr) The relatively new meal kit industry is exploding in popularity nationwide, with companies such as Blue Apron advertising heavily in major cities. Now Martha Stewart is teaming up with Marley Spoon to get in on the game.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Amazon is joining forces with lifestyle entrepreneur Martha Stewart to take a bite out of the fast-growing meal kit delivery industry.
The companies announced Tuesday that they are now offering delivery of Martha & Marley Spoon meal kits in Dallas-Fort Worth.
The kits are sold as part of the AmazonFresh service, for which Amazon Prime members pay a $14.99 monthly fee in return for unlimited free home delivery of grocery orders over $40.
The relatively new meal kit industry is exploding in popularity nationwide, with companies such as Marley Spoon, Green Chef and Blue Apron advertising heavily in North Texas and other major cities.
It is so important to cook wholesome, delicious, healthy dinners, and I believe people will enjoy the nutritious and seasonal recipes offered by Martha & Marley Spoon, coupled with the flexibility and convenience of AmazonFresh.
Martha Stewart
Here’s how it works: Customers select which meals they want and place an order online. A box of pre-measured ingredients is then shipped to their home along with a recipe card with instructions on how to cook the meal.
Meal kits typically cost $10 to $13 per serving — so it’s not cheap. But they are attractive to those who want to cook meals with fresh, often organic and sometimes hard-to-find ingredients, but don’t have the time or inclination to hunt them down in a supermarket.
On Tuesday, a quick check of AmazonFresh showed at least six Martha & Marley Spoon meals for sale to customers in a Fort Worth ZIP code. Among them were chicken soup with sweet potatoes, collards and quinoa, as well as hanger steak and baked onion rings with celery salad.
All the meals were priced at $22 to $24 for a two-person serving.
“I am pleased to collaborate with the most innovative retailer, Amazon, to bring better weeknight cooking solutions to all customers,” Stewart said in a statement. “It is so important to cook wholesome, delicious, healthy dinners, and I believe people will enjoy the nutritious and seasonal recipes offered by Martha & Marley Spoon.”
By joining forces with Amazon, Martha & Marley Spoon could enjoy an advantage over other meal kit services.
Typically, customers who join a meal kit service must place their orders up to a week in advance of their shipments. But the Martha and Marley Spoon orders through Amazon can be delivered to customers’ homes on the same day of the order, with no long-term commitment beyond the AmazonFresh membership.
“We are setting a new standard for the meal kit industry by offering flexible delivery options, a variety of dishes to choose from and no meal plan service commitments via AmazonFresh,” said Fabian Siegel, Marley Spoon co-founder. “This partnership enables added flexibility for consumers looking to incorporate meal kits into their dinner routine, whether it be for a single night or several different meals for the week.”
