ARTICLE AT A GLANCE
Jason Barbour, Metabolic Meals CEO
Tell me if this looks familiar: “Get $40 Off Your First Box” or “Come Back & Get $60 Off Today”. You can’t help but notice the race to the bottom dollar price between Meal Kits anytime you’re scrolling through social media.
While the meal delivery industry is booming, the profit margins for many of these companies are dangerously low or even non-existent. With an average 70% customer churn rate, these companies have to almost give the food away with aggressive reacquisition deals/
Blue Apron, a leader in the Meal Kit space, saw shares fall dangerously low to under $1 and was at risk of being kicked off the New York Stock Exchange this year.
Not enough differentiation between these companies exist to support brand loyalty and the price war between them has led to several quality concerns among consumers.
We saw this coming. When we started Metabolic Meals in 2009 (well before the Meal Kit boom), I suspected the kits might be short lived. In fact, I remember telling my team that when grocery stores realize they should start emphasizing delivery, companies that simply send ingredients would be in trouble.
That’s why we’ve spent the past 10 years revolutionizing what it means to eat healthy: chef-crafted meals, delivered to doorsteps across the nation.
What are Consumers Looking for Next?
Food delivery isn’t going anywhere, because people value time savings more now than ever. However, convenience isn’t enough. Solutions and results are now the premium offering. People are gravitating towards prepared meals with better ingredients that help them accomplish a goal.
Weight loss, diabetes reversal, athletic performance and even eating for brain health are common “wants” among customers in 2019. On top of the 45-min prep times associated with the Meal Kits, health solutions have become increasingly hard to accommodate for people who are looking for real solutions.
We also knew that when people are left to cook ALL of their meals in today’s high pace society, poor food choices are too easy to make when the right options aren’t available.
People Want a Trusted Partner
Many of the companies who surged onto the meal delivery scene over the last few years have huge financial backing from investors. Often times, this leads to “who can gain the most customers through marketing” and not “who can deliver the highest quality product and experience.”
Metabolic Meals has grown by listening to our customers for the last 10 years. A 5-week rotating menu, two portion sizes and a constant eye towards proven nutritional research instead of fads has given us industry leading customer retention.
The focus on ingredient quality and variety has also opened a lot of doors for nutritional studies. Top Universities across the country hire Metabolic Meals to produce entrées that are used in research involving diabetes, fatty liver disease and weight loss. This is something our team is intensely proud of.
We are also in high demand from collegiate athletic programs and professional sport teams which makes game day even more fun to watch.
Handcrafted meals trusted by people who demand the best.
Expert Nutrition + Maximum Flavor
This motto is repeated often at Metabolic Meals and remains a steady reminder during our weekly menu discussions. These meetings involve many of our Chefs, Nutritional Team, Quality Control, Customer Service and Upper Management. We believe that the people responsible for interacting with customers, preparing the food, designing the menu and ensuring that deliveries are made safely must be 100% aligned. This is the only way that customers can have the type of experience they deserve and makes it so much more likely that they tell other people about us.
Customers Want to Be Helped, Not Harassed
“I’m traveling for work, I need my meals shipped to Butte, Montana.”
“Can I remove the bison burger and add dairy-free snacks”?
We hire health coaches to work with customers and support their individual needs and goals. Most of the staff have degrees in Exercise & Nutritional Science which allows them to understand the customer better. Not only are they well-equipped to make nutritional recommendations, they understand better than anyone how important it is to get the customer what they need. After all, they know our customers and their goals best.
Good customer relationships are absolutely essential with a product as personal as food, yet that level of service seems to be often forgotten within this industry.
Food Quality Absolutely Matters
Metabolic Meals doesn’t hide the fact that our meals are a little more expensive.
On average, the meals range between $11-$13 each which is a few dollars more than the meal kits per serving and in line with several fast casual restaurants.
If you can justify spending a little more, here’s what you’ll get:
- Internationally trained chefs prepare your meals from scratch
- Grass-fed, pasture-raised & wild-caught proteins
- Wide array of organic, non-GMO ingredients
- Meals are prepared in our dedicated gluten-free facility
- A new menu to choose from every week
- Safe, fresh delivery nationwide
- Unbeatable customer service
- Complete control of your account (hold, skip or cancel when you need)
While the Meal Kit Industry has been on a meteoric rise over the last few years, industry experts expect single digit growth soon and then several exits to follow.
The lack of customer loyalty, health solutions and long prep times have people looking to fill in the gaps with better alternatives. Prepared meals companies are set to become household names and we have been perfecting our craft here at Metabolic Meals as we’re waiting in the wings.
