Kiwis using meal kits to spread cooking workloadreduce 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.
INNOVATION
KIDS LOVE TO
COOK WITH KITS
“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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