Meal Kits—The Next Generation?

Prepared Foods, March, 2001 by Lynn Dornblaser

The original meal kit could well have been General Mills' Hamburger Helper. Add ground beef and other ingredients for a hearty, filling meal quickly and economically.

Now, Kraft Foods' permutation of the meal kit takes a page from Europe (and from its own past failures). It's refrigerated. Just add meat to the contents of the box, which include pasta or rice, sauce, and cheese (depending on the variety). Currently testing in several cities, including Grand Junction, Colo., Eau Claire, Wis., and Pittsfield, Mass., the Freshmade Creations line is sold in the meat case. Each package features a carrying handle. The varieties sound just like every other meal kit out there: Classic Italian Lasagna, Chicken Parmesan with Linguine, Cheesy Chicken and Rice and Broccoli, and Fiesta Taco Dinner Bake. Eight varieties make up the line.

The plan, it appears, is to market them next to the fresh meat they require (chicken or ground beef).

Kraft tested a line called Fresh Creations in 1990 as part of the refrigerated ready-to-eat meal craze from the late 1980s and early 1990s. The entrees tested in Kansas City in some decidedly upscale varieties: Chicken Hawaiian, Lasagna Florentine, and Beef Burgundy. They were sold in their own display case, thus helping to eliminate some of the problems encountered by Nestle and others with maintaining the freshness and look of their lines.

Kraft may have learned from another failed product-- General Mills' Betty Crocker Dinner Partners from 1992. The line included a compartment of pasta and sauce and another of meat. Stores added the meat. Perhaps it learned from a product very similar to this new Freshmade Creations line--Land o' Lakes' Perfect Timings Meals. They included everything except the meat but were sold in the produce section, though not for long.

Check back in about six months.