Last fall the at-home meal store Chef’d announced that it would partner with Meredith’s Allrecipes (see announcement here). Now the El Segundo-based Chef’d (they like to say ‘Los Angeles” but we know better) has landed a new partner: The New York Times.
The deal makes Chef’d the exclusive meal kit partner for the newspaper’s NYT Cooking – its web and app imprint. The NYT Cooking app is one of the few that the Times has continued to support, having launched the app in September of 2014. Like all NYT apps, it is branded with the name of the newspaper, rather than attempting to create new brands, a strategy I have consistently been critical of (are they still recovering from their About.com adventure?).
The deal makes sense as it allows readers to order meal kits from NYT Cooking’s recipes, and sign up for a subscription service to have meals delivered each week.
One assumes this is a revenue share deal, though most companies don’t like to divulge those kinds of details.
Here is the announcement for the new partnership between Chef’d and the NYT:
NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES – May 5, 2016 — The New York Times and Chef’d, America’s first and only online meal store, today announced a multiyear collaboration that will make Chef’d the exclusive meal kit partner for NYT Cooking, an interactive recipe site and app designed to help you discover the world’s best recipes and become a better cook. Through this co-branded initiative, which will be available this summer, consumers will be able to browse and order recipes from NYT Cooking. Chef’d will deliver the fresh, ready-to-cook ingredients to homes within 24-48 hours.
NYT Cooking, which launched in 2014, is available on the web and as an app for iPhone and iPad. The collaboration between the two companies is expected to elevate customers’ experiences by making recipes from NYT Cooking easier to make at home. Customers can stay informed and sign up to be notified once meal kits become available for purchase at www.chefd.com/nytcooking.
This initiative will differ from any subscription service in the marketplace today and will offer two distinct ordering options. Consumers will have the ability to choose and reorder meal kits at any time from a growing selection of NYT Cooking recipes. Consumers will also have the capability to sign up for a subscription to receive as many or few meals per week as they would like, with the option to swap out, add or delete any meal from their order. NYT Cooking and Chef’d will offer meal suggestions based on customer preferences, and NYT Cooking will continually add new recipes to the service, focused on trends, seasonal items and holidays.
“Chef’d’s innovative platform is an ideal resource for those who value the highest-quality food and most-trusted recipes from NYT Cooking,” said Michael Greenspon, General Manager, News Services & International, The New York Times. “This collaboration will offer users an extensive array of recipes from NYT Cooking’s rich collection paired with the unique culinary experience of Chef’d.”
Edited by Food editor Sam Sifton, NYT Cooking features more than 17,000 recipes from the Times archive to browse, search, save, and cook. With recipe recommendations, curated collections, and learn-to-cook guides, NYT Cooking makes it easier for home cooks to learn the basics, while also providing the tools to help them become better, more accomplished cooks. At the center of the NYT Cooking experience is the Recipe Box, which allows users to save recipes from anywhere on the web in one place and access them any time from any platform. Users can rate recipes, leave notes to help fellow cooks, and share their favorites via social and email platforms.
“We’re thrilled to welcome NYT Cooking to our family of brands, and we’re excited about collaborating to enhance the at-home cooking experience,” said Kyle Ransford, founder and CEO of Chef’d. “Through our meal delivery capabilities we can provide The Times’s rapidly growing digital community the ease of cooking delicious meals the Times has always featured with a simple touch of a button.”
Since launching last year, Chef’d is widely regarded as having revolutionized the meal kit delivery business through the company’s level of choice, re-ordering flexibility, and cost savings. Additionally, there is the luxury that Chef’d offers customers as they shop for meals at any time without the hassle of membership or subscription fees. The company, which has partnered with established chefs, notable culinary personalities and trusted organizations, further sets itself apart through the ability to fulfill fresh ingredients direct to consumers on a national basis for major brands.
To date, Chef’d has been funded by its founders, and recently added FreshDirect co-founder and CEO, Jason Ackerman, to its Board of Directors. “I’m excited to join the board of this innovator in the rapidly growing meal kit space,” Ackerman said. As demand for meal kit delivery surges the company is currently in the market to secure an additional round funding in order to continue to fuel its growth and innovation. Chef’d will also be marketed on the crowdfunding platform CircleUp.