The Rise and Fall of Meal Kits + Why Meal Delivery Wins

Remember when meal kits were the hottest thing in food? A few years ago, it seemed like everyone had a Blue Apron box on their doorstep. The idea was simple but revolutionary: fresh ingredients, pre-measured, with step-by-step instructions, delivered to your door. You’d throw on an apron, channel your inner Top Chef, and whip up something that felt way fancier than your usual Tuesday night dinner.

For a while, it worked. Really well, actually.

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Why Meal Kits Took Off

Meal kits scratched an itch that a lot of people didn’t even know they had. Cooking from scratch? Great. Grocery shopping, planning meals, and figuring out what to do with half a bunch of parsley? Not so great.

Services like Blue Apron, HelloFresh, and Plated (RIP) promised to take the hassle out of home cooking without sacrificing quality. They were marketed as a smarter, fresher alternative to takeout—something that felt wholesome, hands-on, and even kind of fun.

Blue Apron, in particular, became the poster child of the movement. It launched in 2012, hit unicorn status fast, and went public in 2017. For a hot minute, it looked like meal kits were going to disrupt the entire grocery industry.

But as quickly as they rose, they started to fall.

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What Went Wrong?

The cracks showed up pretty early. The first issue was the cooking itself. While the kits simplified a lot, they still involved chopping, mixing, sautéing, and cleanup. For a service that was supposed to save time, it often took 30–45 minutes (or longer) to get dinner on the table. And if you weren’t already someone who enjoyed cooking, the novelty wore off fast.

Then there was the packaging. Each kit came with a ridiculous amount of waste: plastic bags, tiny bottles, insulation, ice packs, and boxes galore. Environmentally conscious customers started feeling guilty, especially since many of the materials weren’t easily recyclable.

Cost was another factor. Blue Apron meals typically ran $9–$12 per serving, which put them in an awkward middle ground. More expensive than groceries, not quite as effortless as takeout.

Finally, retention became a nightmare. People tried it, got the discount, made a few meals, and bailed. The churn rate was brutal, and that steady customer drop-off made it hard for these companies to turn a real profit.

Blue Apron’s stock tanked. Plated got bought out by Albertsons and later shut down. HelloFresh has managed to stay afloat, especially overseas, but the golden age of meal kits is long gone.

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Enter: Ready-to-Eat Meal Delivery

While meal kits were stumbling, another food trend quietly started gaining steam: fully prepared, ready-to-eat meal delivery. Companies like Factor, Trifecta, Freshly (also now defunct), and Snap Kitchen entered the chat—and they learned a lot from meal kits’ mistakes.

Where meal kits asked you to cook, these services did the cooking for you. You just heat and eat. No chopping, no dishes, no missing ingredients. For busy professionals, parents, or fitness-focused folks, that was a game-changer.

Factor, for example, built its brand around chef-prepared, dietitian-approved meals that cater to specific lifestyles like keto, calorie smart, protein plus, vegan, etc. They show up fresh (never frozen), usually in recyclable packaging, and most meals are ready in 2 minutes. Add in their enticing promotion for new customers, and that’s a hard pitch to beat.

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Why Factor and Friends Are More Popular Now

1. Convenience Wins: We thought we wanted to cook more, but it turns out, most of us want to think we’re eating well without doing the work. Prepared meals tap into that sweet spot of health, taste, and zero effort.
2. Clear Nutrition: Factor and similar services clearly label calories, macros, and ingredients. For people watching their diet, that level of transparency (and predictability) is huge.
3. No Food Waste: Unlike meal kits, where you might not finish a jar of miso paste or use up a sprig of thyme, prepared meals come in just the right portion. No food waste, no guesswork.
4. Flexible and Subscription-Free Options: Many ready-to-eat services have made it easier to skip weeks, change meals, or even buy à la carte. That flexibility helps them keep customers longer.
5. Targeted Audiences: Meal delivery companies now focus on specific demographics like gym-goers on high-protein plans, vegans, or people managing diabetes. That focus makes their value more obvious, unlike meal kits, which aimed too broadly.

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So, Is It Goodbye Forever to Meal Kits?

Not entirely. There’s still a niche for people who like to cook but don’t want to meal plan. HelloFresh is still kicking, and niche kits (like gourmet or family-friendly options) have their loyal fans.

But the era of meal kits as the “future of food” is probably over.

Meal delivery, on the other hand, is just getting started. Services like Factor are tapping into a new kind of modern eater—one who values health, time, and convenience in equal measure. In a post-pandemic world where people are busier than ever but still want to eat well, that model just makes a lot more sense.

So yeah, pour one out for Blue Apron, but don’t be surprised if the next time you peek into someone’s fridge, you see a neatly stacked row of Factor meals instead.