Meal Kit Home Delivery: Where Does Flexible Packaging Fit In?

General / April 5, 2017

In the food industry, very few markets have made a bigger splash than the meal kit home delivery market. This delivery model combines the best of two significant consumer trends – convenience and health consciousness.

This previously untapped market has blown the doors open, providing premium meal options for virtually every type of consumer in the food industry with healthy ingredients delivered right to their doorstep. There’s nowhere to go but up, right?

Without a doubt, the potential for the meal kit and grocery delivery model is truly massive. However, it still comes with its fair share of challenges for printing and packaging converters as well as meal kit companies themselves including:

• Preserving product quality and freshness – One major concern that goes with any type of food delivery service is product quality and freshness. Long trips, bad weather conditions, product leakage and more can easily lead to unsatisfied customers if the food product is harmed or damaged in any way.
• Where does it all go? – Another apprehension among eco-friendly consumers is material waste. Since most meal kits are designed to support a single meal at a time, this means each ingredient requires several smaller, individual packages that end up leaving you with a counter full of plastic waste.

Flexible packaging as a solution

With high-barrier packaging capabilities and several single-serve options, flexible packaging is the perfect remedy for the concerns above. Sealant additives and coatings provide insulated layers of protection to the product package while high-barrier films work to prevent the permeation of unwanted moisture, oxygen and vapor.

Flexible packaging also provides consumers with more eco-friendly, sustainable material choices that leave a smaller impact on the environment and local landfills after use.

While a certain degree of waste is inevitable both with standard grocery shopping and meal kit home delivery alternatives, you can expect to see flexible packaging play an increasingly larger role in minimizing the waste in newer food markets.

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