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Comment by tjpnz | Hacker News Reader

What would prevent a supermarket chain from implementing their own weekly boxes and offer them in store or for delivery using their own established logistics? With the access they have to vendors they would be able to offer more range, fresher ingredients and better prices while still being able to make a profit. I don't live in the US but I've seen what they've been doing on YouTube with sponsorships and limited time offers - they must be taking a huge hit.

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Nothing. Here’s a photo I took of a kit in a German grocer just outside an U-bahn station, about 4 years ago:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ktemanrhxruxi3r/2014-12-23%2014.34...

I took the picture for a friend who was looking into a meal kit play at the time. Seeing it executed so well I couldn’t imagine how a subscription service could compete. They had about 4-6 meal displays like this amongst the regular groceries.

That's amazingly well executed indeed, and the first one I've seen a picture of at that. I wish the local grocers here in Ontario (Loblaws) would do something similar.

Supermarket chain, hell restaurant chains are getting into this. Chik-fil-a has meal kits that are not their standard fare but obviously chicken that you can buy to take home. Grocery stores seem to have exploded in options in the produce section of fresh vegetables combined with seasonings and such and the meat sections are doing the same. Walk into a Publix (Southern state grocer) and there are meal planning cards at the entrance and even daily demos of some of the meals.

I would totally buy recipe kits from a refrigerator in Whole Foods if that was an option. There’d be no wasted packaging, you still get the satisfaction of cooking and it’s mostly just a marketing gimmick on things already in the store.

As pointed out elsewhere in the comments, Kroger chains already have this if you want to check it out.

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