Meal kits represent a significant share of the total retail subscription category, with leading provider HelloFresh reaching a wide audience.
The PYMNTS Intelligence report “The Replenish Economy: A Household Supply Deep Dive,” drew on responses from more than 2,000 U.S. consumers in September, aiming to get a better sense of their subscription and overall shopping habits.
The results revealed that HelloFresh is the second-most popular subscription service, after Amazon Subscribe & Save, with 25% of subscribers participating in the meal kit program.
Supplemental research from the study highlighted in Karen Webster’s Monday (Jan. 8) feature “The Eight Pivotal Strategies for Payments and the Digital Economy in 2024” revealed that this market share is higher than competitor Blue Apron, of which 18% of subscribers are customers.
HelloFresh has seen the total number of purchases drop slightly in recent months, although changes to the menu yielded higher average order value (AOV).
“The small decline in meals shipped was more than outweighed by the increase in AOV and has allowed us to grow net revenue by about 3.5% in constant currency in Q3,” HelloFresh CEO Dominik Richter told analysts on the company’s most recent earnings call in October. “This marks a reacceleration of revenue growth for the group from the trough we have seen in Q2 and is on track to see a further year-over-year acceleration for every month in Q4.”
The meal kit provider is gaining share from brick-and-mortar grocers. The same Replenish Economy study revealed that 47% of HelloFresh subscribers have reduced their visits to brick-and-mortar stores, and the supplemental data showed that 36% of Blue Apron customers have done the same.
The shift in consumer behavior highlights the growing preference for meal kits as a convenient and time-saving (if not always budget-friendly) alternative to traditional grocery shopping.
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