SPRINGDALE, Ark. – Tyson Foods Inc. and Amazon Fresh are close to introducing a recipe delivery service. Donnie Smith, president and CEO of Tyson Foods, said during a May 9 earnings call with analysts that the company continues to work with Amazon Fresh on a new line of meal kits called Tyson Taste Makers.
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Donnie Smith, president and CEo of Tyson Foods |
“We’re expanding our relationship with Amazon Fresh to sell fresh protein as well as partner with them around innovation,” Smith said. “We plan to launch Tyson Taste Makers, a line of chef-inspired meal kits in premium proteins for home delivery, with Amazon Fresh this fall.”
Although Smith did not give any more details, the service he describes will be a direct competitor to Blue Apron and Hello Fresh e-commerce grocery services, online already. Smith talked about this move to e-commerce during a presentation at the Consumer Analyst Group of Europe in London in late March.
“We’ll teach them about the cuts of meat and where they come from. We’ll help pre-cut, trim, dry age, smoke, marinate, and do the prep, so all they have to do is cook it,” Smith said at the time. “And then we’ll inspire them to explore and cook with ingredients that they may have never used before.”
Tyson Taste Makers is part of the company’s strategy to innovate with new products across all channels while remaining relevant to consumers.
“… we must keep refreshing our offerings through flavor and formula updates, line extensions and disruptive innovation,” Smith explained. “In July, we’ll be introducing Jimmy Dean stuffed hash browns and Ball Park frozen sandwich meats, including pulled pork, meatballs, and steakhouse burgers. Retailer acceptance has been very good and sell-in is going well.”
In September, the company will launch an extension of the Hillshire snacking platform along with a new Tyson Naturals line of frozen chicken products, featuring all-natural ingredients and no antibiotics ever, Smith added.
“As we innovate, we’ll align with customers to grow where the growth is,” Smith said. “Non-store retail, or e-commerce, is projecting to grow three times faster than the rest of the market, so we’ve begun innovating with the e-commerce shopper and retailer in mind. We’ll continue to partner with the leading US retailers, testing click-and-collect models.”
