Meal-kit delivery services have been growing in popularity, with providers like Blue Apron and Hello Fresh delivering home-chefs everything they need to prepare a meal. The ingredients are pre-measured, and the recipe cards are printed, with illustrated step-by-step instructions. All you need to do is supply the salt, pepper and oil.
Of course, the downside to some of these services is that consumers have limited choice when it comes to choosing which recipes they want delivered to their home — a problem which online-grocer service Instacart is seeking to address, after announcing its partnership with Food Network.
The Instacart press release explains:
Have you ever found yourself pouring over recipes online, only to later wander through grocery store aisles hunting down each and every ingredient you need? We want to save you that headache once and for all, and give you your valuable time back. We’re turning to the leading destination for recipes and culinary inspiration, Food Network, to make the meal planning, shopping and preparation experience as simple as a few easy clicks online, ultimately bringing ingredients to your door in as little as one hour.
Instacart is teaming up with Recipe Box and Grocery List across the Food network’s websites. While browsing through more than half a million recipes, users will be able to add ingredients from any recipe to their Instacart. Then, after selecting a delivery time, an Instacart Personal Shopper will deliver the ingredients straight to their door.
According to Eater, a spokesperson describes the collaboration as "the same Instacart service, but you can seamlessly add all of the ingredients you need directly from a recipe on FoodNetwork.com or Food.com to your Instacart shopping cart.”
As Digital Tends reports, this partnership comes on the heels of Instacart’s collaboration with personalized nutrition service PlateJoy, which purports to help consumers buy groceries specifically tailored to their health goals.
If you’d like to try out the new feature, you can visit FoodNetwork.com or Food.com. In celebration of this launch, Food Network has also selected three trending recipes geared toward the summer: a 4-Ingredient Peaches and Cream Pie, Fresh Corn and Tomato Salad and Grilled Whole Porchetta-Style Chicken.