CHICAGO — Thanksgiving dinner will arrive in a box on the doorstep for some consumers this year.
Several meal kit companies are offering Thanksgiving dinner meal kits, according to research firm Technomic, driven by the popularity of the multibillion-dollar meal kit category. Currently, the United States represents the largest single market for meal kits worldwide.
“Many players in the meal kit business are testing holiday packages as a way to expand the ways in which they serve customers,” said Erik Thoresen, principal with Technomic’s technology advisory practice.
Chef’d, which offers meal kits developed by celebrity chefs and health experts, offers a customizable Thanksgiving dinner meal kit. Consumers choose the dishes they want to serve from a list including herb-roasted turkey with pan gravy, brioche stuffing, roasted Brussels sprouts, mashed potatoes, kale salad, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, apple pie, chocolate pecan pie and brandied pumpkin pie.
The Martha & Marley Spoon Thanksgiving box contains a whole 12- to 14-lb. free-range turkey, stuffing with dried cherries and herbs, cream cheese mashed potatoes, roasted Brussels sprouts with pomegranate and apple cider vinaigrette, and a brown butter apple pie.
The Tyler Florence Complete Thanksgiving Dinner from Williams-Sonoma includes a free-range spatchcocked turkey, sausage stuffing, chive mashed potatoes, creamed kale, roasted vegetable gravy, cranberry sauce and pecan pie.
A handful of meal kit companies opted to offer Thanksgiving options, but the actual number of consumers choosing meal kits this Thanksgiving is still small. However, the holiday meal kit category has immense potential for growth, Technomic said, especially among existing meal kit service users.
While 16 percent of non-meal kit users would consider ordering their Thanksgiving dinner from a meal kit company, that percentage jumps to 51 percent among existing meal kit service users, according to a November Technomic consumer survey. Forty-three percent of meal kit users believe a Thanksgiving dinner from a meal kit company would boost the quality of their Thanksgiving Day feast, compared to only 17 percent 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,” Thoresen said.
