Dive Brief:

• Stouffer’s has begun rolling out its new Complete Family Meal Kits in retailers across the country, according to The Shelby Report. The frozen meals are pre-chopped, pre-measured and can be prepared in less than 25 minutes.
• Each kit is made up of four different packages of ingredients separated by protein, vegetables, grains or potatoes, and a sauce allowing customers the ability to customize the kits to their preference. The kits come in four different varieties including roasted Tuscan style chicken, braised pork, beef and broccoli, and sesame chicken.
• The kits feed four people and cost $15.99 each. The company says the kits are more expensive their other Stouffer’s products because they comprise of Stouffer’s new premium line which includes more expensive ingredients. The chicken and pork are raised without antibiotics and the beef without added hormones.

Dive Insight:

Meal kits are flooding grocery stores, and not just from companies like HelloFresh and Blue Apron anymore. Retailers and CPG brands like Nestle’s Stouffer's are pushing out their own meal kits in supermarket aisles hoping to cash in on the trend.

Stouffer’s was the top-selling, single-serve frozen dinner in 2017, according to a Statista report. The brand is hoping to expand its appeal in the frozen aisle. But will a frozen offering from a leading packaged goods brand succeed in a space where upstart brands and fresh offerings have so far dominated?

It's clear that meal kits are broadly appealing and have room to grow on supermarket shelves. An internal research study at Albertsons showed that 80% of customers say they want meal kits in-stores and 85% of online meal kit subscribers want an in-store option. Another study by Nielsen found that 9% of U.S. consumers have tried a meal kit and only 6% ordered one online. 

Offering meal kits in-stores gives consumers the ability to have more control over when they purchase the kits and appeals to the growing number of on-the-go, convenience-seeking consumers. However, Stouffer's and any other frozen brands that enter the space face a growing list of competitors. Kroger just kicked off the nationwide expansion of its Home Chef meal kits, Albertsons expanded its Plated meal kits to new regions, Walmart’s meal kit Gobble is growing and the top performing meal kit company in the industry, Hello Fresh, has partnered with Ahold Delhaize to sell kits in Stop & Shop and Giant stores.

Retailers and frozen foods manufacturers eager to gauge the cross-category appeal of meal kits — and to keep boosting the frozen aisle's popularity — should closely follow the performance of Stouffer's new line.