Bold boxes

Whether recipes offered by meal kit companies come from restaurateurs, from reputable publications, associations, commodity boards or are developed in-house, somewhere along the way a research and development chef’s expertise has most likely been tastefully included. Many meal kit companies develop their recipes to stand out from all the rest.

“Chefs seeking inspiration can look to global flavor trends to create differentiation in meal kit plans,” said Gary Patterson, CEC, PCIII, principal research chef, manager culinary science for McCormick & Co., Hunt Valley, Maryland.

“Beyond the familiar seasoning blends, chefs can use Ethiopian berbere seasoning, for example, for a warm fragrant heat, or a red curry blend from Thailand or elsewhere in Asia (beyond traditional Indian yellow); they’ll create a broader flavor profile through [the addition of] culinary-inspired global spice and herb blends,” he said.

For meal kits with health and wellness as the focus, such as Williams-Sonoma-owned Sun Basket or 100 percent plant-based Purple Carrot, creating recipes featuring the big, bold flavors of herbs and spices should be the key strategy since they may well mitigate reduced sodium, fat and sugar content, Patterson said.

The whole intent of creating mindful eating is to create satiety — not just reducing sodium, fat or sugar.”