Whole Foods partners with vegan meal kit provider Purple Carrot

Whole Foods Market will begin a pilot to sell plant-based meal kits from home delivery service Purple Carrot in the retailer’s flagship store in Dedham, Mass., the two companies announced.

The retailer will sell packaged kits of pre-measured ingredients with recipes that make two servings for $19.99.

“We recognize that now, more than ever, our customers are in need of convenience without the sacrifice of quality and nutrition,” Kimberley Rose, VP of purchasing for Whole Foods Market’s North Atlantic region, said in a press release. “Purple Carrot has created a great product that will help us to provide our customers with one more way to continue to eat well even on the busiest of days.”

Meal kit delivery services have generated a lot of buzz in the past few years, though trial of such services is low. Retailers such as Coborn’s, Giant Eagle and Ahold banners Peapod and Giant have produced their own meal kits for delivery or in-store pickup.

Whole Foods approached Purple Carrot about a potential partnership last spring, Purple Carrot CEO Andy Levitt told SN.

The Whole Foods-Purple Carrot partnership joins Coborn's, Giant Eagle, Peapod and Giant as retailers with their own meal kit programs.

Purple Carrot — which is headquartered in nearby Needham, Mass. — will provide the Dedham store with a rotating selection of three recipes at a time. Initial offerings include Mongolian Seitan Stir Fry, Pan Seared Tofu and Black Rice Noodles, and Cashew Korma with Cauliflower Rice. Every three weeks, Purple Carrot will remove one recipe and add something new. Meals sold in store will never overlap with what is currently available to Purple Carrot subscribers.

One reason Whole Foods may have chosen an outside purveyor for its first meal kit venture rather than producing them in-house is the ability to outsource the labor.

“We will produce all of the components to the meal kits in a separate location and deliver them to the store,” said Levitt.

At the same time, the meal kit ingredients will be products customers can buy at Whole Foods. For example, the Pan Seared Tofu and Black Rice Noodles will feature a brand of tofu that is sold in stores.

“It’s a nice opportunity for Whole Foods to feature products, when someone may not have tried seitan, for example, and they’ll get our Mongolian Seitan Stir Fry and say, ‘Wow, that was amazing. I didn’t realize that seitan tasted like that. That was really good.’ They could certainly go back to Whole Foods and pick up an individual product of seitan that they could use for other recipes,” said Levitt.

Levitt said he thinks those who purchase meal kits in stores will be somewhat different than those who subscribe to Purple Carrot, although existing customers may also want to stop by the store to pick up a recipe they may not have tried.

“We’re excited to share the news with a lot of our local customers in and around this area who either currently shop or may be able to visit that Whole Foods and find the brand that they love now on the retail shelves,” said Levitt.

While Purple Carrot’s delivery meals come in a box with cold packs and padding, the Whole Foods kits will be merchandised in a clear, plastic container so customers can see the ingredients, Levitt said. Purple Carrot will include information about subscribing to its delivery service on the packaging.

At approximately $10 per serving, the Purple Carrot meal kits sold in stores will be slightly cheaper than those offered through the company’s delivery service, which come out to about $11.33 per serving.

Levitt declined to say how Purple Carrot would split the profits with Whole Foods.

The retailer will display the meal kits in the produce department and the prepared foods area.

“We’ll be doing demos and samples over the next couple of weeks,” said Levitt. “And they’ve got us outstanding placement in those two locations [in the store]. And we’re really excited they have some in-store signage that they’ve created as well in partnership with us.

“And the expectation would be that as the pilot proves to be successful we could certainly expand into other stores in the North Atlantic region, and take it from there.”

Purple Carrot’s delivery service now covers 75% of the U.S., or about 30-something states, Levitt said. He declined to say how many subscribers the company has.