LOS ANGELES -- Meal-kit company Chef’d has teamed up with Smithfield Foods to offer its recipes at retailers in 27 states. Consumers will be able to purchase the ready-to-cook, preportioned meal kits at more than a dozen stores, including Costco, Issaquah, Wash.; Harris Teeter, Matthews, N.C.; and Hy-Vee, Des Moines, Iowa.
Starting at $14.99, Chef’d meal kits emphasize convenience with cook times of 10 to 30 minutes and a clean-up of just one to two pans. Unlike meal-kit company Blue Apron, Chef’d is a nonsubscription service that offers next-day delivery.
“Meal kits are the fastest growing channel across the entire food industry,” said Sean Butler, senior vice president of retail for Chef’d. “The expansion of Chef’d into retail enables us to serve the large group of shoppers who have never tried a meal kit but are eager for nonsubscription solutions. Our goal is to give more shoppers more meals in more places to help them eat better, save time and explore new flavors.”
The company’s more than 1,000 recipes feature familiar flavors with a twist, such as 20 Clove Garlic Chicken with Mashed Purple Potatoes and Spinach; Weeknight Chicken Pad Thai With Carrots and Sugar Snap Peas; and Black Truffle Butter Sirloin Steaks with Roasted Garlic Potatoes and Asparagus. In creating its recipes, the company has collaborated with more than 50 culinarians, such as Wolfgang Puck, Dominique Crenn and Ana Quincoces.
Los Angeles-based Chef’d is tapping Smithfield, Va.-based Smithfield Foods’ e-commerce and product-development scale and expertise as the company moves into retail units. Using plastic packaging geared to each ingredient’s respiration rate, the meal-kit service extends the shelf life of meal kits to 16 days from production.
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