Coca-Cola enters meal kit market with Chef’d partnership: ‘Beverages are an integral part of the meal occasion’

Chef’d, an online meal kit marketplace, and Coca-Cola have developed the meal kits that include ingredients for meals as well as providing a matching Coca-Cola brand such as Dasani, Coca-Cola, and Gold Peak sweet tea.

Coca-Cola identifies an increase in the number of people enjoying meals at home, along with an increasing number of ‘foodies’ interested in new foods and flavors and the pairing of food and beverages.

Coca-Cola: ‘We want to go where our consumers are going’

Meal kits – which include portioned ingredients and easy instructions – are becoming more and more popular with busy consumers who are looking for a healthier alternative to take-out food. According to Nielsen, 25% of Americans have purchased a meal kit in the last 12 months.  

The new ‘Refreshing Meal Inspirations’ – co-branded by Chef’d and Coca-Cola – are available nationwide online at Chef’d.com, with the meal coming with pre-portioned ingredients and the beverage, and delivered to the home as soon as 24 hours later.

Meal kits and their beverage pairings include: Grilled BBQ Baby Back Ribs, Potato Salad and Corn with Gold Peak sweet tea; and Beef Short Rib Tacos with Coca-Cola.

John Carroll, General Manger / VP, eCommerce for Coca-Cola North America, told this publication that, although the company has experimented with sampling beverages with meal kits and eCommerce meal pairings, the partnership with Chef’d is its first commercial activity in the meal kit space.

“Beverages are an integral part of the meal occasion, and Coca-Cola has a rich and long history of complementing and enhancing great meals,” he said. 

“As people look for more convenient meal solutions we want our brands to be part of that. Meal Kits are one of the fastest growing food categories today, so it makes sense for us to partner with the breadth and depth of our leading portfolio of brands.”

Through this kind of eCommerce environment with Chef’d, Coca-Cola is able to engage with their target market, provide them with an experience and build brand relationships, he said.  

“Our Chef’d partnership is a best in class example of collaborating with a partner on how to bring ice cold sampling and elevated meal pairings to life,” he said. 

“By working with Chef'd, we're able to deliver fresh pre-portioned ingredients straight to people’s door and provide a meal pairing experience in the comfort of their own home.

“We are working with digital and eCommerce partners in other areas to accomplish similar objectives. We want to go where our consumers are going.”

Making it easy to try new things

Coca-Cola identifies the opportunity to target the at-home experience: seeking the number of people eating dinner at home on the rise, and with nine out of ten dinner occasions including the consumption of a non-alcoholic beverage.

However, during meals people usually chose to drink from the limited selection they have available at home – so providing a drink with the meal kit makes it easy to explore new ideas.

Meanwhile, there is an increase in the number of foodies who want an enriched eating experience.

“Consumers, especially millennials, seek out new foods and flavors, including beverages, and by including the beverage with the meal, we’re making it easy for them to try new flavors and add depth and complexity to their favorite foods,” explained Carroll.

What foods go best with Coca-Cola?

With this in mind, Coca-Cola has been investigating what beverages pair best with foods and how flavors can complement each other.

“Decisions about food and beverage pairings have always been complex, as people are thinking about the occasion and the taste profile of their meal,” said Carroll.

“These decisions will continue to get more complex as the range of beverage types and flavors continue to grow, offering people more choices than ever before, welcoming recommendations for finding the perfect choice and accompaniment for their meal.”

Therefore, Coca-Cola has been researching which foods and beverages pair well together for the meal kits.

“For example, when eating spicy foods, a beverage with a subtle sweetness provides a great balance to the flavor experience,” said Carroll. 

“We also found that beverages with a light citrus flavor enhance robust flavors such as garlic or balances out the spiciness of seasonings such as sriracha sauce.

"We also work with a panel of culinary advisers who provide a lot of input and insight into complexities and subtleties of flavor palates and pairings for an elevated meal experience.”