Dive Brief:

• AmazonFresh has partnered with Allrecipes to let users add recipe ingredients to their online shopping carts, according to a release. Allrecipes has 80 million users and records 1.5 billion site visits per year.
• Users first select AmazonFresh as their preferred grocer, then can add ingredients from eligible recipes to their carts for one- or two-hour delivery. Allrecipes curates the brands that appear in each eligible recipe, but shoppers will have the option of making a different selection through the Fresh platform. 
• At launch, the purchase function will only be available on Allrecipe’s most-trafficked recipes, according to the release. Over time, the companies will add buy capabilities to recipes across the site.

Dive Insight:

Shoppable recipes have become a key marketing strategy for AmazonFresh. In addition to its Allrecipes partnerships, last month Amazon partnered with Fexy Media, owner of Serious Eats and other food culture and recipe sites, to add buying and delivery through Prime Now. Then just this morning, recipe site EatLove, which develops weekly meal plans and recipes around consumer preferences and dietary restrictions, announced that it has inked a similar deal with AmazonFresh.

These moves will allow Amazon to interact with high-value shoppers on sites where food inspiration often strikes. The e-tailer, which is currently developing its own meal kits, wants to do more to tap into the demand that’s fueling sales at Hello Fresh, Plated and other players.

Amazon isn’t the first e-commerce company to pursue recipe integrations like this. Two years ago, Instacart partnered with Allrecipes to offer buying options on recipes across the site.

Numerous other companies are narrowing the space between culinary content and the point of purchase. Harris Teeter launched a special recipe site this fall that customers can use to create custom shopping lists. The Dinner Daily, meanwhile, creates weekly dinner recipes for budget-conscious shoppers using their preferred grocery stores.

On the e-commerce side, Door to Door Organics recently launched a tool that suggests recipes based on the items shoppers have placed in their basket, while DinnerTime.com teamed up with Ahold Delhaize-owned Peapod to deliver the ingredients needed for its personalized meal plans.

Amazon’s deal may not be a homerun — at least not at first. The e-tailer recently reduced the number of markets where it will offer its Fresh service. Also, unlike meal kits, shoppable recipes require users to purchase the entire bottle, box or jar of each ingredient, even if all they want is a small amount. The potential for food waste and money left on the table could turn off some shoppers.

As AmazonFresh regroups and the e-tailer develops further online shopping tools through Whole Foods stores, though, the Allrecipes deal will give Amazon access to a stream of high-value customers