The concept of subscription dates back to years ago when it was limited to newspapers, magazines, and cable connections. However, over the years, this trend has forayed into other industries as well and occupies a prominent space in our lives. Owing to the digital revolution; Indian consumers have now been using subscription-based services for various needs such as entertainment (OTT), telecom services, furniture, groceries and now food. Digitisation has played an integral role in making these services becoming faster, more instant, and more convenient for consumers.
Amidst fast-paced lives, consumers' demand for comfort and convenience is ever-increasing. Food is a necessity for people, yet cooking has always been a struggle for them. Purchasing groceries or spending hours in the kitchen cooking is not a preferable option. In such a scenario, food delivery apps emerged to be the go-to option. However, it is indeed an undeniable fact that online food delivery is not a feasible routine model. It can turn out to be an expensive service when availed on a daily basis. It also might not be able to match the homely taste as well as hygienic standards of home-cooked meals that can be easily consumed routinely. This is when the concept of food subscriptions come into the picture.
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Food subscription is growing in popularity after digitisation. Photo: iStock
What Is Food Subscription?
Food subscription implies a service that includes scheduled deliveries of meals at your doorstep. Lately, it is becoming a popular choice in using online subscriptions for products that are needed more frequently in day to day life. Fresh food is definitely one such area where a person needs it at least 4 times a day.
Meal Subscriptions: The New Fad?
Off late, there has been a significant surge in the subscription concept for many frequently-consumable products and services. The success of e-commerce players and OTT platforms have proven that there is a huge market for subscription business.
While the robust presence of online food delivery apps in the market will be an important part of our lives, food subscription models are gradually emerging to be a mainstream concept.
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Homemade, healthy food is the rising preference among young generations. Photo: iStock
Homemade, healthy meals are rising in preference amongst the millennials, Gen Z and Y. These sections of the population are moving away from junk, oily and spicy food and rather prefer a diet that is balanced and packed with nutrients for their daily meals. However, they lack the proper cooking structure or their cooks are unable to satisfy their need for healthy meals. A daily meal subscription that is powered by tech is a much preferable solution to their daily struggle with food.
Benefits Of Meal Subscription:
The concept of meal subscription comes with some undeniable benefits. Some of them are:-
1. A convenient choice without delivery fee
The main theme of the food subscription services lies in their convenience. Most subscriptions offer a door delivery service and waive off the delivery charges or offer extremely low delivery charges. They can get fresh food delivered as per their comfort without stepping out from their homes amidst their busy schedules!
2. An ideal solution for busy lifestyles
With a subscription in place, you can save your time, effort, and money spent on gathering groceries and cooking hours in the kitchen. Hence, it is indeed a blessing in the truest sense for people who lead busy lives and can't allocate time for cooking from their hectic schedules or simply lack the cooking support in their lives.
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Busy schedules leave little time for cooking, which is why food subscriptions come into the picture.
3. Exciting and diverse menu
The new digitized meal subscription services are able to provide a vast variety in the menu. Many times, they even customize the menu for the customers as per their choices as opposed to the standard fit-for-all type of dining menu available on food delivery apps. This way the customer gets to try multiple cuisines and styles of cooking under one roof. Hence, going ahead with food subscription models gives consumers a chance to add variety to their mealtime.
4. Less expensive than dine-in or take away
At any given point, the average cost per meal associated with a dine-in binge is always higher. Subscriptions with their fixed order frequency models are able to bring down their cost per meal and can easily provide meals at affordable pricing. The pricing associated with a cost per meal along with minimal to almost negligible delivery charges makes meal subscriptions a viable option that doesn't burn a hole in a customer's pocket.
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Takeaway meals and dining out is not just unhealthy, but also becomes expensive for the consumer.
5. Healthier options
Over a period of time, people are becoming all the more health-conscious and prefer eating a healthy and nutritious diet. Food subscriptions are moving towards the same trend. From snack boxes to freshly cooked gourmet, subscriptions can provide you with the ultimate healthy eating options.
6. Easy accessibility
The subscriptions are easily available on apps and websites. Hence, anyone with access to smartphones, devices, and the internet can avail of their services anytime, anywhere.
Conclusion
During the time when food delivery rules our lives, food subscription indeed seems to be a better and smarter option. With meal delivery services, you can get scheduled, automated fresh food deliveries right to your doorstep. Depending on food preferences and choices, the meal subscriptions will deliver freshly cooked, ready to eat, hygienically made home-style meals from a variety of cuisines, that too at affordable pricing. Owing to their plethora of benefits, food subscription services are worth a try!
About Author: Kumar Setu is co-founder and CCO at Sprink.Online.
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