Just as the food kit service is taking off, and popular brands are offering more options for picky and sensitive eaters in order to attract new customers, Thistle has gone in an entirely new direction: offering a meal kit service geared to feeding babies.
Meal kit services offer a healthy option to families who prefer to cook meals at home but don’t have the time to shop for groceries, plan meals, or browse through recipes. These services have particularly taken off among millennials who have higher sources of income and limited time between work and raising young children, and who are also more technically savvy and early adapters of new apps.
Which is why Thistle is making an interesting move to appeal to the needs of the aging millennial market, who are now starting to have children of their own. Young mothers often feel overwhelmed with trying to juggle work and raising a healthy baby, and are uncertain about feeding them food from jars. Some complaints about choosing store-bought baby food, including stores with healthy options like Whole Foods, is that it is so processed the food ends up being too watery, or it’s not made with all real food ingredients and the taste and nutrition is lacking.
Some mothers don’t want to feed their babies any processed items and would prefer to make their own baby food, but don’t have the time or know the mix of ingredients to make it both healthy and tasty. Thistle Baby specializes in plant-based ingredients, (as does Thistle, which offers ready-to-heat or raw and ready-to-eat meals for their customers, skipping the cooking part altogether). So it makes sense that the company would want to market a healthier option for baby food, too.
The Thistle Baby meal kit includes vacuum-sealed bags of apportioned, organic ingredients, flash-frozen to preserve flavor. Customers can steam and puree it to the consistency they prefer, and add spices (also provided in the meal kit) to their tastes.
It makes sense that meal kit services are increasing their offerings as more and more people are using them and the competition grows. According to a Nielson survey, 14% of consumers around the world are already buying groceries and household goods online and via mobile.
Thistle noticed an untapped niche in the meal kit service market with baby food. (Nielson estimates the baby food market generates about $30 billion in annual sales.)
Thistle Baby officially launches this month, and will cost about $2 per meal.