Meal Kits Won't Start A Cooking Revolution - Yet

THE MEAL-KIT BUSINESS MAY BE heading for a food fight. On one side: retail giant (and Whole Foods acquirer) Amazon, which recently started selling boxes of premeasured ingredients and easy-to-follow cooking instructions to a select group of customers. On the other: smaller companies that were already doing this, including Hello Fresh, Plated and Blue Apron, which went public on June 29.

- Alexandra Sifferlin

But no matter which side emerges victorious, the meal-kit industry is still rife with issues.

Numerous studies show that when people cook their own meals with fresh ingredients, they’re more likely to make healthier food, which can lower their risk of chronic diseases like diabetes and obesity. That’s why services like Blue Apron have attracted so much attention: they promise nothing short of a cooking revolution, one that could touch every household in America. (Time Inc., which owns TIME, offers the Fresh Realm meal-kit service through two of its other brands, Real Simple and Cooking Light.)