Critical Review Paper Example: The Current Position the Food Market

Introduction

I started a business dealing in meal kit delivery service in Cardiff, which has been in operation for a year now. The business offers a subscription service that allows customers to choose their meals weekly. The service is normally delivering fresh ingredients to customers, with a precise recipe that is sustainable. In a meal kit delivery service, customers decide on what they to cook, and this is what is used to prepare the recipe, as well as the ingredients (Pinel et al., 2019). We usually deliver the meals to customers using one delivery vehicle because the market that the business serves is still small. Currently, we do not have fixed premises, and therefore, our customers access our services through social media platforms. We reach our customers through social media platforms and Google ads because a majority of the customers that we serve do access the platforms. Also, the decision to use social media was motivated by the ability of the platforms to accommodate more information that allows us to upload enough information about the services that we offer.

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The reason for venturing into meal kit delivery business was inspired by the underserved customers who were looking for a simple meal preparation that guarantees quality and convenience. Most market research shows that the main reason for the growth in meal kit delivery services is mainly centred on convenience (Yoon, Gao and House, 2019). Our market is divided into four segments, with the main focus being on the working class who do not have the time to look for food but are looking for a home-cooked meal that is simple to prepare. The four segments that business targets are divided as follows: households with children, who are generally struggling with creating a balance between work and their children activities, but need a proper diet for their children. The second segment comprises of young adults who are unable to cook a nutritious meal because they do not know how to cook. The third segment is the senior and the elderly citizens. The last segment is the buyers who are concerned with sustainability and the environment.

The Double Bottom Line

Social businesses have proved to be effective in addressing most social problems. Therefore, venturing in meal kit delivery service was not only profit engineered, but it is part of a larger plan of promoting healthy living through preparing nutritious and environmentally sustainable meals. Meal delivery services send the right food proportion and thus minimise wastage (Heard et al., 2019 p.200). This impacts the packaging of the meals, which facilitates the use of environmentally friendly containers. Also, it strengthens the effort towards a healthy society through eating healthy diets (Gee et al., 2019 P. 117587.). As opposed to using charity groups to help in addressing social problems, which are often faced with numerous drawbacks, using commercialised approaches such as social businesses have proven to be effective in solving most of the social issues (Hill and Maddock, 2019). For instance, in January 2019, it was reported that UK's Gousto and Mindful chef, both dealing in meal kit delivery services, raised a combined PS24 million towards their goal of ensuring that UK families cook nutritious meals by 2025. The same reports further suggest that Gousto alone is delivering above 1.5 million meals in a month which is approximately two-thirds of its market share. The company's dedication in supporting healthy meals have seen them partner with Joe Wicks, a famous nutritionist, who asserts that he is delighted in joining efforts with the company to improve the health of the nation. The latter examples of how meal kit delivery services are focused on addressing health challenges justify how commercial efforts are good at overcoming most of the social problems. As such, the decision to start was to contribute to the healthy lifestyle of the people living in Cardiff, and the UK in general.

Critical Review of Current Position

Meal kit delivery industry is increasingly becoming popular in most parts of the world. The service has been revolutionised by the technological advancements, especially the online mobile applications that provide home delivery services. The growth in the market is also attributed to the growing trend of reducing food wastage (Camilleri, 2018). The global meal kit delivery market in 2017 stood at 2.52 billion and the market is expected to grow to approximately $ 8.94 billion by 2025 (See fig 1 in the appendix). According to Hexaresearch.com (2019) The UK is the second-largest meal delivery service market and accounts for more than 30% of the global market. The vast market suggests the reason for the increased number of both foreign and domestic companies mainly dealing with meal kit delivery services.

The food delivery market is broadly divided into meal kit, traditional grocery and speciality groceries. The meal kit delivery service is expected to grow faster as compared to the other two (see fig 2 in the appendix) The anticipated growth has seen most companies venture into this business such as Blue Apron, Hello Fresh, LLC, among others. For example, Blue apron is considered to be the largest company in the united states dealing in meal kit delivery service but also operates in the UK. Therefore, the business faces competition from well-established business, which are not only conducting activities in their home markets, but they have also expanded their operations in foreign markets. The meal kit delivery services also face competition from shops selling cooked foods such as restaurants. Although there is a growing preference for meal kit services, there is a significant number of customers who still prefer having their meals from restaurants. Unlike restaurants, which are usually located closer to customers' meal kit delivery firms are still facing a challenge of establishing their business closer to customers to reduce their running costs. Further, their customers who would like to have deliveries but always find it hard to prepare the meals by themselves. Therefore, it calls for coming up with efficient techniques to be appealing to customers who still prefer having their meals from restaurants. Also, according to online food delivery reports, the leading segment is the restaurant to consumer delivery. As such, although meal kit delivery service is experiencing unprecedented growth, restaurants remain, competitor, because a vast population considers already cooked foods that can be eaten from the restaurant or delivered to the customer's premises.

Amidst such established business enterprises and other alternative food products, remaining competitive has been one our major challenge. However, as a business, our selling point has been a good relationship with our customers. We mainly focus on making the customers meet the value for their money. We have 24/7 customers service support to enable customers to reach us at any time in case they want to make any inquiries. We also keep our customers updated on our latest products by sending them emails and newsletters regarding our most recent orders. Customers are one of the potential media of reaching out to other persons who are not aware of the business. As such, the business also runs a customer's referral program where we reward customers with free meal delivery of their choice once they refer to another person. The program is also reinforced by a gift coupon that aims at motivating our customers.

Vision for Future Growth

The business serves a small portion of consumers in Cardiff and our long-term plan is to increase the number of customers that are subscribed to our service. Therefore, the plan will also involve expanding our operation to other towns. The growth of the business majorly relies on establishing a good relationship with customers. According to Khan and Sowards (2018), the success of any business enterprise lies in the ability to meet the tastes and preferences of consumers. The business relies on referrals as one of the significant ways of widening the customer base. As such, one strategy that we need to capitalise on is ensuring that customers are satisfied. Some of the crucial activities that we intend to strengthen our relationship management between the business and the customers. The relationship will be enhanced by creating a platform where the business can easily interact with its customers. As a business, we have established a website log that can allow customers to inquire more regarding the services that are offered. Although most of our marketing has been through customer referrals, our dedication towards the use of social media platforms enables us to reach a large number of prospective customers.

The statistics regarding meal kit service in the UK suggests that a considerable section of the people is yet to subscribe to a meal kit delivery service. According to the office for national statistics, about 35 % of UK consumers are singles, and this suggested why companies such as Tesco in 2018 announced they were planning to stock more than 400 single portion products such as vegetables. The latter statistic shows that there is a considerable number of consumers within the UK who are yet to subscribe to meal kit delivery services. The statistic suggests the industry is bound to grow, and thus, with solid business plans, we are likely to expand our services to other areas. The increasing trend for health and nutritious food among consumers is also another aspect that guarantees the potential for future growth. As posited by Ladd (2019) the growth of meal kit delivery industry is a result of the increased number of people who are looking forward to a nutritious meal but do not have the time prepare the meal. According to the global meal kit delivery services report, the market is expected to grow by 14.8% between 2018 and 2024( See fig 1 in the appendix). This statistics further show that market growth and the existing company's cannot extensively serve the market. Therefore, adopting effective business plans that are geared towards meeting the demands for customers guarantee an increased market share for the business.

The business plan will be evaluated based on the number of persons accessed after the implementation of the long-term plan. The review of our growth strategy will be conducted through social media review to assess whether more customers are visiting the online business platforms. Keeping track of the changes in the number of customers is crucial in remaining dedicating towards achieving the set goal (Khan and Sowards, 2018). Again, information derived from a follow up of the business plan will facilitate in making changes in the course of the operation to ensure that the business goal is realised. Several challenges are bound to face the business as we venture in expanding our services. Thus, there are significant ways that we have identified to ensure that most of these shortcomings are alleviated. One of the methods is ensuring good relationships are maintained with key partners such as retail suppliers and dealers.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the market for meal kit delivery services is experiencing unprecedented growth, which the majority of people looking for nutritious food that is convenient to prepare. The increasing number of consumers implies that the market is still underserved, despite the existence of some well-established companies such as Blue Apron. Therefore, small businesses dealing in the same enterprise have the potential for growth. The decision to open a meal kit delivery service in Cardiff was not only profit-motivated, but as a social business, the aim was also to promote a healthy lifestyle for the people in Cardiff by providing them with a nutritious meal that is convenient.