Kiwis Using Meal Kits to Spread Cooking Workload

Media Release 25 September 2019

Kiwis Using Meal Kits to Spread Cooking Workload and Reduce Stress

Meal kits are making it easier for family members and children to learn essential cooking skills and helping introduce more variety into Kiwi diets according to new research.

The results from a new HelloFresh study of more than 2,500 Kiwi households, which used meal kits, found six in 10 (58%) respondents said the subscription has helped increase the culinary skills and confidence of their children in the kitchen.

A similar proportion (57%) of respondents said meal preparation is now shared across more family members than it was previously.

Tom Rutledge, CEO of HelloFresh who entered the New Zealand market 12 months ago says the market has expanded significantly in that time, with more Kiwis seeing benefits from the model beyond the convenience meal kits provide.

“We know our customers are savvy when it comes to managing their weekly food budget and therefore want value for money. But we are also finding that they value their time, piece of mind, and occasions that bring the family together on top of that - and meal kits are proving to be a popular way of achieving this.

“The research found the use of meal kits are not only making it easier for Kiwis to have a more varied diet but also spreading the workload of meal preparation across more members of the household – including those who previously lacked confidence in the kitchen.

“We all feel busier than we’ve ever been - and HelloFresh and other meal kit brands are able to transform a necessary, potentially stressful part of the day into a pleasant household pursuit that also provides and hands-on learning experience.

“We’ve all seen kids cooking - and how proud and satisfied they are to contribute to something everyone then eats. We harness that enthusiasm and make it easy for kids to increase their involvement with our recipes which are broken into smaller steps that can be easily delegated to ‘kitchen newbies’. Over time they graduate to more complex tasks and eventually prepare an entire meal by themselves. ” he says.

Rutledge says they are also seeing three quarters (75%) of Kiwis say meal kits have introduced new cooking skills and techniques they otherwise would not have been exposed to and we’re proud to be able to be a part of the cooking journey for so many kiwi families.

He says an additional three quarters (77%) of those surveyed said meal kits had reduced the amount of household food wastage and, a majority 89% said they had a more varied diet as a result of using a meal kit.

“Over half (59%) of meal kit users reported saving two hours or more each week when taking into account the grocery shopping, cooking time and planning,

“Around four in 10 (41%) said they spend this additional time with their loved ones, while slightly less than a third (29%) said they use it to relax or pursue a hobby with a further tenth (10%) of respondents using the time to exercise more,” he says.

Rutledge says the study suggests Kiwis using meal kits were less likely to need to go to the supermarket with almost three quarters (72%) saying they now only need to buy supplementary groceries once a week.

He says the majority (53%) have also found a meal kit subscription actually provided them with more certainty around their food budget or reduced their overall spend each week.

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