Meal Assembly vs. Grocery Store

August 1st, 2007 |

I’ve been reading about this with a lot of interest, the idea of grocery stores starting to get into the meal assembly business and even meal assembly franchises opening up inside a grocery store. In looking forward, I wonder if we will see a symbiotic relationship between meal assembly stores and grocery stores or will the grocery store simply take over this function?

Here’s what I mean. If you have a meal assembly store located in a grocery store (or the grocery store simply builds their own) that provides the option for pick-up-and-go ordering wouldn’t this blending seem to leave the meal prep store out in the cold?

For example, you place your order online and have the meals set to be picked up on a certain day. You also plan it so this is the same time you will go to the grocery store. It would seem the perfect bit of convenience to have your dinners assembled (or waiting) while you go shop for all the other accessories. In one fell swoop you grab your ready-to-go dinners for the month, side items, salads, desserts, soda/pop, wine and all the other shopping you need to do. If the larger grocery store chains latch onto this concept wouldn’t it just put the whole meal prep industry out of business?

Smaller cities and town where the Independent stores probably rule, I doubt this would have any impact. But in larger cities with warehouse sized grocery chains, how would this not satisfy? You could still offer to have customers make meals if they like, you could have “walk-ins” since that’s exactly what they’re doing, and order ahead so meals could be prepped ahead of time.

Think of the convenience of going to the grocery store to grab a few items, whatever they may be, and while there, you put in an order for 1 or maybe 3 meals and finish your shopping while a diligent meal prep agent puts your dinner together in about 5 minutes. By the time you grab that shampoo or diapers or box of cereal your dinner is done and ready to go into the oven as soon as you get home. Shopping done. Dinner done.

Now that would be convenient!

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