Kit Meals: A Glimpse at the Future of the Food Industry

If we take the time to trace the origins of the many modern-day creature comforts we take for granted, we would often find their origins date farther back than first assumed.

Food processing is among one of those modern-day creature-comforts, with the first instances of such dating back to the Upper Paleolithic Age (Late Stone Age).

Our ancient ancestors from the Upper Paleolithic Age incorporated basic food processing methods such as fermenting, various kinds of cooking (smoking, roasting, steaming, and baking), sun drying, and salting.

These food processes, all of which are still used today, trigger chemical, enzymatic changes to the food, slowing down its rapid decay building a barrier against microbial activity at its surface.

This is evidence that people from the prehistoric period understood the importance of eating healthy. And after millions of years, little has changed in the way of food preservation.

However, the Industrial Age brought about the introduction of chemical preservatives, with many developed countries having harmful levels of preservatives in their foods.

The Introduction of Vacuum-Sealed Foods

In the 1940s, a German inventor named Karl Busch invented the first “vacuum pack.”

Vacuum packaged food is quite similar to canning food in that both processes are meant to drive the air out which prevents the growth of microorganisms.

It’s a well-known fact that vacuum-sealed foods are safer and healthier than chemically preserved foods.

This is why companies offering meal kit delivery services are growing in popularity. Consumers see that vacuum-sealed meals promote sustainability, saves money, prevents food waste, and healthier eating.

How Kit Meals Are Revolutionizing the Food Industry

Millennials are driving all kinds of disruptions throughout many industries.

They’re disrupting the housing industry; they’re disrupting the healthcare industry; they’re disrupting the photography industry; now the way Millennials eat is disrupting the food industry.

With the eating habits of 75 million Millennials influencing the future of food logistics, the grocery industry must evolve rapidly to survive.

A study conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture discovered that Millennials are consuming more unprocessed foods rather than processed foods.

Unprocessed foods include things such as fruits and vegetables, while processed foods include items such as potato chips and pasta.

Millennials are a group of consumers that want food to be quick, simple, fresh, and organic – non-processed.

Sun Basket: A Leader In the Kit Meal Industry

Most kit meal delivery services started as and still are considered startups. They started popping up between 2010 and 2012.

Some of them have been acquired by major corporations such as Amazon, while others have partnered with the likes of Walmart.

However, Sun Basket is one kit meal startup that prefers to maintain its primary objective: select only the freshest food from local farmers while remaining focused on sustainability and the community.

Launched in 2014 by renowned chef Justine Kelly from San Francisco and tech entrepreneur Adam Zbar, the company caters to customers with strict dietary guidelines.

The company’s fresh, organic ingredients are shipped every week to its members along with recipes created by Kelly and approved by his in-house nutritionist.

According to My Food Subscriptions, Sun Basket offers meal plans such as Paleo, Gluten Free, Vegan, Vegetarian, Diabetes-Friendly, Pescatarian, among a few others.

There are plenty of websites that offer customers a Sun Basket promo featuring $60 off you Sun Basket order, meaning it only costs $40 to try out.

That’s far cheaper than a trip to the grocery store for the same things, plus it gets delivered right to your front door.