Dive Brief:

• Blue Apron meal kits are now available on Walmart.com without a subscription, according to a news release from the companies.
• The four bundled selections, which range in price from $90 to $140 and are fulfilled by Blue Apron, are the first meal kits to be offered on the Walmart Marketplace platform. 
• Blue Apron said it plans to continue forging new avenues for meal kit distribution that go beyond the traditional subscription model.

Dive Insight:

Blue Apron’s new listing on Walmart.com comes as the meal kit maker is trying to reach more customers who might not be willing to spring for a subscription. For Walmart, the new offerings help the retailer bulk up its roster of marketplace sellers.

The four meal kits available on Walmart.com each serve up to 12 people and include traditional cook-by-numbers selections as well as an assortment of heat-and-eat, single-serving meals that can be prepared in 5 minutes or less. Dishes include cheese crisp burgers with dijonnaise and rosemary and panko chicken.

Blue Apron has been working to build a sustainable business following a sharp rise in sales early in the pandemic. The company has been expanding its meal options and now offers 58 weekly meal selections — triple the amount it offered in 2019. It is also focused on boosting spending among its most loyal customers while also looking beyond subscriptions to expand its reach. 

In a business update last month, Blue Apron said it planned to offer more “curated customer experiences” while also extending its offerings through an “ecosystem of partners.”

Walmart and Blue Apron have crossed paths in the past. Blue Apron briefly sold meal kits on the retailer’s Jet.com site, and Walmart was touted as a potential buyer for the meal kit firm back in 2018. Blue Apron also sold kits inside Costco stores for a time. 

Although the success of meal kits in stores has been mixed, the growth of e-commerce and retailer marketplaces are presenting new avenues for growth. Last year, Sunbasket launched an online storefront with Instacart, while industry leader HelloFresh brought its online grocery store, HelloFresh Market, to the U.S.

For Walmart, the addition of Blue Apron to its marketplace brings more variety to its endless aisles selection. The retailer added 20,000 marketplace sellers last year and has been trying to entice new sellers onto the platform with discounts like 10% off fulfillment services as it tries to compete with Amazon.