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There is an app in the UK called Lollipop, which works like Hello Fresh and the likes, except instead of delivering the ingredients to your house, it just adds

by sksksk 4y ago

There is an app in the UK called Lollipop, which works like Hello Fresh and the likes, except instead of delivering the ingredients to your house, it just adds the ingredients to the basket of your supermarket shop (and takes a commission). To me, that seems like the logical evolution of meal kit services; zero marginal costs by outsourcing the logistics to companies that already do it at scale. https://www.lollipopai.com/ https://www.lollipopai.com/

Spivak 4y ago
Not as fancy as integrating with your grocery store but https://www.mealime.com https://www.mealime.com is another one.
core-utility 4y ago
My local Publix (South-Eastern US based chain) has their own brand of meal kits [1] that they sell in store. Seems like a win-win in terms of logistics since they've already got all that down. The only thing I could see is that you might spend a small premium for the convenience of having it pre-packaged and right sized for an individual consumer (when compared to buying a 4-pack of chicken breasts for example). [1]: https://www.publix.com/recipes-planning/aprons-meal-kits https://www.publix.com/recipes-planning/aprons-meal-kits
gruez 4y ago
That sounds like a great service, but terrible business model because you're reliant on supermarkets that can eat your lunch at any moment by launching a competitor. Since they also have a entire grocery supply chain, they'll be able to outcompete you on price as well.
- sksksk 4y ago
  Unless your business model is to get acquired by one of the supermarkets
theossuary 4y ago
There's a few of these in the US too, like mealime. But they only integrate with some grocery pickup/delivery services, some of which are regional, and the rest are a race to the bottom in terms of quality and cost like Walmart. The integrations are also not very good, getting quantities wrong or constantly trying to add pantry staples to your cart like salt. I feel like more curation is the answer, hand pick the ingredients in each recipe using each grocery pickup/delivery API. But honestly I see supermarkets adding this as a differentiator that's good enough to keep anyone from buying a 3rd party service for it. Maybe there's space to sell similar functionality to small regional chains to white label?
gcheong 4y ago
Are the quantities you get grocery store quantities or are they portioned out like the meal kit services? One thing I liked about the meal kit services was not having a bunch of leftover stuff that I wouldn’t end up using before it went bad.
- icoder 4y ago
  And even the stuff that doesn't go bad easily seems to pile up, multiple types of rice, shapes of pasta, cous cous, noodles. I know it is a bit of a luxury problem, but it is one nevertheless.

by sksksk 4y ago

Spivak 4y ago

Not as fancy as integrating with your grocery store but https://www.mealime.com https://www.mealime.com is another one.

core-utility 4y ago

My local Publix (South-Eastern US based chain) has their own brand of meal kits [1] that they sell in store. Seems like a win-win in terms of logistics since they've already got all that down. The only thing I could see is that you might spend a small premium for the convenience of having it pre-packaged and right sized for an individual consumer (when compared to buying a 4-pack of chicken breasts for example). [1]: https://www.publix.com/recipes-planning/aprons-meal-kits https://www.publix.com/recipes-planning/aprons-meal-kits

gruez 4y ago

That sounds like a great service, but terrible business model because you're reliant on supermarkets that can eat your lunch at any moment by launching a competitor. Since they also have a entire grocery supply chain, they'll be able to outcompete you on price as well.

sksksk 4y ago
Unless your business model is to get acquired by one of the supermarkets

theossuary 4y ago

There's a few of these in the US too, like mealime. But they only integrate with some grocery pickup/delivery services, some of which are regional, and the rest are a race to the bottom in terms of quality and cost like Walmart. The integrations are also not very good, getting quantities wrong or constantly trying to add pantry staples to your cart like salt. I feel like more curation is the answer, hand pick the ingredients in each recipe using each grocery pickup/delivery API. But honestly I see supermarkets adding this as a differentiator that's good enough to keep anyone from buying a 3rd party service for it. Maybe there's space to sell similar functionality to small regional chains to white label?

gcheong 4y ago

Are the quantities you get grocery store quantities or are they portioned out like the meal kit services? One thing I liked about the meal kit services was not having a bunch of leftover stuff that I wouldn’t end up using before it went bad.

icoder 4y ago
And even the stuff that doesn't go bad easily seems to pile up, multiple types of rice, shapes of pasta, cous cous, noodles. I know it is a bit of a luxury problem, but it is one nevertheless.