Albertsons Diversifies Offerings With Acquisition Of Prepared Meal Kit Servicer, Plated

Albertsons Co. has acquired meal kit subscription service Plated for between $175M and $200M, marking the first acquisition of a prepared-meals company by a national grocer. And there is speculation it will not be the last. 

The Albertsons takeover could stimulate competing grocers' interest in Plated’s rival Blue Apron, Axios reports, adding that this acquisition could be more disruptive to the grocery business than Amazon's acquisition of Whole Foods Market. The e-commerce giant has also been pushing into the meal delivery sphere, having filed a trademark for a service described as: "We do the prep. You be the chef."

The $2.4B meal kit industry has grown exponentially in recent years, and now includes more than 100 companies. Plated is considered one of the five largest meal-kit providers in the country and has managed to raise $95M in venture capital since its inception, the Wall Street Journal reports. It was featured on "Shark Tank" in 2014 and gained Kevin O'Leary as an investor.

Through the deal, Albertsons' will market and sell Plated's services to its 35 million customers at its 2,300 stores, and Plated will continue to operate its subscription-based delivery model online. 

Albertsons' acquisition is in line with its push to focus on innovation, personalization and customization. The national grocer was rumored to have had its eye on a Whole Foods acquisition in the spring and had previously taken over Safeway in 2015 for $9B, making it the largest supermarket chain in terms of revenue.

The grocer, like many other chains in the industry, has been working to remain competitive in an industry that is suffering from low profit margins, an ongoing food price war, ample competition from budding food delivery services and fear about the implications of the recent Amazon-Whole Foods deal on the industry.