Amazon Meal Kits Are Already Available

 

Two days ago, it was reported that Amazon had filed trademarks for a meal kit service. Now it seems as though those meal kits are already available in select cities.

A search of the Amazon Fresh website using the Seattle zip code 98125 turned up a series of meal kits in a range of cuisines, like Chicken Tikka Masala, a veggie quinoa bowl, and tacos al pastor. The website currently offers 17 meal kits in total. Each kit serves two people, and can prepared “from box to table in about 30 minutes,” according to the product description.

Searching with a Jersey City zip code, however, yielded no results for the Amazon-branded meal kits, only offering options from the Martha Stewart-Marley Spoon collaboration and Tyson Tastemakers, the meal kits made by the producers of Tyson chicken. The Amazon-branded kits are sold at a range of prices: Steak au poivre, for instance, is $18.99, while a veggie burger kit costs $15.99. At Blue Apron, a 2-person plan costs $60 per month, while a family plan costs $143.84 plan for four recipes per week.

Geekwire tested out the meal kits, today writing that “the food is fresh,” and came in individually wrapped packages, though there was an excess of packaging that might concern more environmentally conscious consumers. The reviewer called the steak and chicken breast, “juicy, flavorful, and tender.” However, with prices hovering around $20 per meal, it seems hard to imagine anyone ordering Amazon meal kits on a regular basis, at least until the prices drop a bit closer to a normal grocery bill.

At the moment, there’s still no word when Amazon might launch the meal kits nationwide; it seems as though the company is still in the first stages of a soft-test of the line, and the recent aquistition of Whole Foods could further fuel an expansion. Still, the fact that the meals kits are already showing up online is sure sign that companies like Blue Apron and HelloFresh might need to watch their backs once Amazon makes its move.