NEW YORK – Meal kits are striking a chord with consumers by delivering on the promise of convenience and health, according to new research by The Harris Poll, which found that 25 percent of adults purchased a meal kit in 2016 and 70 percent of meal kit buyers continue to actively purchase meal kits.
The top reasons consumers gave for buying meal kits included:
- saving time on meal planning (46 percent)
- short prep and cook times (45 percent)
- saving time on grocery shopping (37 percent)
- trying new recipes (36 percent)
- healthy recipes (34 percent)
Insights were gleaned from a Harris Poll of 2,015 US adults aged 18 and over who were surveyed online between Dec. 27 and Dec. 29, 2016, including 474 who have purchased a meal kit in the past 12 months either in-store or online.
Harris Poll noted that 44 percent of consumers who no longer are actively purchasing meal kits say they would consider buying again due to the time saved on meal planning.
“When it comes to the contents of the meal kits, a vast majority of active purchasers appear to be very satisfied,” Harris Poll said. “Over nine in 10 each say they are satisfied with the quality of the produce in their meal kits (92 percent) and with how the fresh meat is packaged (91 percent). While healthiness is clearly important, when it comes to meats, 89 percent of purchasers say they would be satisfied with regular (i.e., not organic) meat.”
While meal kits offer plenty of benefits, areas in need of improvement included the addition of desserts, with 86 percent of respondents saying they would add a dessert to their meal kit if the option was available. Also, the cost of meal kits has proven to be a barrier for some consumers. Nearly half of consumers who no longer purchase meal kits said lower cost would persuade them to purchase. Also, more than one-third of consumers said they would buy meal kits if they were available in their local grocery story.
