R&D at the CIA: Building a Meal Kit – the Concept

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First things first…the concept

Over the past few weeks, our Culinary R&D class has done a lot of market research on trends within the meal kit industry. We identified and analyzed many different food trends and our groups have begun to develop meal kit concepts.

Our research sources covered influential food blogs, food journals, market research journals, and various other sources regarding any recent influential food event. From there, groups conducted ideation research with the public, to get a better understanding of what consumers were looking for in a meal kit. For these ideation sessions, it is best to talk with people outside of the classroom who do not have any knowledge of our projects. The groups in our class went to a few different places to conduct our research. One group conducted their ideation session online, while others went to public places like gyms or the mall. During these ideation sessions, we inquired about the different needs and wants that consumers would look for in a meal kit subscription service.

Based on this trends and ideation research, our class concluded that people were looking for attributes relating to ethnic diversity, specialized diet options, plant-based food options, and overall sustainability in meal kit subscription services.

Our team decided to make a “Culinary Passport”-themed meal kit service based on authentic ethnic cuisines that allow customers to step out of their culinary comfort zones.

Other team concepts included:

  • A meal kit service for athletic individuals who often adhere to strict paleo-style diets.
  • Meal kits based on sustainable plant-based-style cooking.

In the coming weeks, we’re going to conduct focus groups and begin to condense our ideas into potential prototype concepts. Who knows what we’ll come up with?

By Bryan and Jerry

Bryan and Jerry
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