Exploring the burgeoning meal kit delivery industry, offering insights into starting a meal kit service with a focus on route planning and optimization to enhance efficiency and customer satisfaction.
The online meal kit industry is exploding! Our world has changed dramatically since the start of Covid-19. People are ordering in a lot more, which is a big thing we’ve noticed. As a result, distribution systems as well as all aspects of the food industry are in high demand. This includes general food delivery (takeout, fast food), meal delivery (freshly prepared meals, meal planning), and, of course, meal kit delivery.
We’ll try to address the question of “how to start a meal kit delivery service” in this post. We’ll focus on the route planning and optimization aspects of this form of meal kit service in particular. Now it’s time to be a little more specific about how to start a meal kit service.
A meal kit is a “subscription-based” food service. This is in line with consumer product trends such as Dollar Shave Club, Quip, and other subscription-based items (per month or week). The flow for the meal-kit delivery service will be as follows:
For a number of purposes, many consumers may choose to order an online meal kit delivery:
There are numerous players, both large and small. The larger corporations in the United States and elsewhere are well-known brands such as:
In the meal kit industry, these firms have a sizable market share.
Many local kit companies and entrepreneurs, such as blue apron, specialize in providing meals and meal packages to the community. Then there are companies that specialize in plant-based meal delivery, such as Purple Carrot. Davids still have room against Goliaths, as is the case in all industries (such as HelloFresh or Amazon). The meal kit industry is no exception. The meal kit and kit delivery industry is booming, and there’s plenty of space for a company to build a fantastic kit business for a local market and attract new customers. College students and working professionals alike prefer these.
To get started in the food industry, the package sector, or the meal kit delivery market, there are a few steps to take. Here’s a short rundown of what you should think about when writing your business plan:
We might add even more steps to this list, but we’ll stop here for now. We’ve also written extensively on a variety of other subjects, including a series of posts on how to start a delivery service.
EasyRoutes specializes in route optimization. Since delivery is such an important part of the meal kit operation, any food business that makes deliveries needs a high level of precision and optimization. It is important because it is a component of the customer experience. This is correct for a variety of reasons:
We have a large team of dedicated experts looking into solving the optimization problem for you because it is so complex. This will allow you to concentrate on your meal kit service and ensure that every meal kit your customers receive is the best meal kit they’ve ever had.
EasyRoutes is used by many food entrepreneurs and meal kit delivery services to support them with their meal kit delivery businesses.
So you’ve started your meal kit business. On your website, you have a menu. Your menu is a hit with the public. You’ve already received several orders. Three meal kits per week are requested by a customer on the east side of town. Another on the west side of town is looking for two weekly meal kits. You put together your meal package. Get the ingredients, print the recipes, and save the room.
This continues to expand until the business has progressed to the next level. You’re worried about “how am I going to arrange all these deliveries in a manageable way?” instead of only concentrating on meal kits, supplies, and just making meal kits.
You can have one, two, or three drivers, and determining the best course of action is difficult. How are we going to get all of these meal kits to their proper locations? How will we get these meal kits to you in a timely manner? While maximizing the efficiency of our delivery drivers?
Route planning comes into play at this stage.
Our solution is to give you a simple, intuitive, and easy-to-use interface that allows you to quickly access your Shopify orders and addresses, build routes, and have your drivers deliver your meal kits in no time.
Users of our meal kit delivery service have been able to:
As a result, they can devote all of the time and money saved to what matters most to their business: improving their core product and pleasing their customers.
Learn more about EasyRoutes or install the EasyRoutes route planning app on Shopify.
In short, we know from customer feedback that improving this aspect of the process is critical, and we want to be able to assist you as much as possible so you can concentrate on your ingredients, recipes, and other market-relevant information. Safe deliveries!
Roundtrip's mission is to equip every business with the software tools they need to deliver products to their customers in a delightful way. Thousands of Shopify merchants worldwide choose EasyRoutes to power their local deliveries across dozens of product categories, from meal kits and groceries to coffee, cupcakes, kibble, and so much more. Our easy-to-use route planning and delivery optimization app is certified Built for Shopify, a two-time Shopify staff pick, and the top rated local delivery app on the Shopify App Store.
