Compared to many other industries, technology has been slow to disrupt the food industry, but this is changing, according to Comet Line Consulting director David Baveystock.
Comet Line has conducted research into digital disruption and has found that there are six emerging web-based business models that collectively have the potential to disrupt traditional retail models in the food and beverage industry.
Meal solutions start-ups like Dish'd, My Food Bag and Hello Fresh are among these, according to Baveystock, who will be presenting his findings at the Food & Drink Business + PKN LIVE Disruptive Innovation Industry Forum in August.
Dish'd offers a range of frozen meal components such as grass-fed beef, Atlantic salmon fillets and Australian-grown baby peas. Consumers shop the menu online then receive next-day delivery of their ready-to-heat meal, packed in dry ice.
Baveystock believes this direct meal solutions category competes most directly with takeaway food options, given it has an average price point between $10 and $12 per meal.
“You're doubling the price of a Lean Cuisine from Woolworths and Coles and appealing to the consumer who wants a premium home-cooked meal delivered to their door,” he says.
Baveystock says the My Food Bag and Hello Fresh concepts, in contrast, are based on a global phenomenon that started in Sweden in 2007.
“There are a lot of global start-ups moving into this market,” says Baveystock. “The appeal for this product is that, compared to reheating a frozen meal, there's a bit more interaction in cooking the product. It's aimed at the consumer who wants the convenience of having pre-portioned ingredients delivered to the door with the recipe, allowing them to participate in meal preparation.”
These options in particular remove the step of going to the supermarket, list in hand, with a menu selection in mind.
“Many customers are claiming it is not necessarily more expensive than if they'd visited the store, and there's an experimental element which allows them to learn more about cooking and try out new recipes,” Baveystock says.
“Analysts overseas are all debating at what point these might become profitable business models. Like any start-ups, they will need scale to deliver a high level of profitability, and this may be close, or it may be years away.”
Baveystock will outline six web-based business models that threaten to disrupt the food and beverage industry at the Disruptive Innovation LIVE industry forum, powered by Food & Drink Business + PKN, on Thursday 13 August at Royal Randwick Racecourse, Sydney. To find out more or to book tickets click here.
