Gobble is teaming up with Walmart to offer its meal kits on the retailer’s eCommerce platform. The meal kit provider offers meals that require one pan and can be made in 15 minutes or less, Fortune reported.
Gobble claims that approximately half of their customers are between the ages of 35 and 44 years old — by comparison, only about a quarter of Blue Apron’s customers fall into that age range. In terms of market, Gobble founder Ooshma Garg told Fortune that the company seeks to serve busy parents, and, in terms of funding, it landed approximately $11 million in Series A funding in 2015.
Walmart has been selling meal kits and “one-step meals” in more than 250 of its brick-and-mortar stores, and it plans to bring Gobble to 2,000 of its locations in 2018, CNBC reported. “These delicious meals give the best or worst of cooks a fresh, easy option for dinner tonight or later this week,” said Tyler Lehr, senior vice president and general merchandise manager of deli services for Walmart U.S.
The meal kits are designed to serve two people and sell for $8 to $15. Walmart customers can buy them in the store or through its online grocery pickup service. Unlike meal kit delivery services, like Blue Apron and Hellofresh, Walmart does not require its customers to purchase subscriptions. Traditional meal kit providers tend to rely on subscriptions to support their business models, which often involve costly and complex delivery processes.
Walmart began selling meal kits on its website last year, and, according to TheStreet, some of the kits fell under the Takeout Kit and Home Chef brands. Each company fulfilled the orders and Walmart reportedly received a referral fee and small commission.
According to previous reports, the meal-kit market is worth more than $2 billion — it makes sense that big players want to get in on the act. Albertsons recently acquired meal-kit company Plated for $200 million, and Amazon has been eyeing the market since its Whole Foods Market acquisition.
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