Dive Brief:

• Instacart has teamed up with Sunbasket to offer the meal delivery service to consumers without requiring a subscription, the companies announced on Monday.
• Sunbasket's Fresh & Ready prepared meals, meal kits and grocery add-ons can be ordered through its digital storefront on Instacart. The partnership marks the first direct-to-consumer (DTC) meal delivery service available through the e-commerce firm’s marketplace.
• The partnership comes at a time when Instacart is branching out into new services and retail channels, and meal kit and delivery companies are vying for shoppers who want quick meal solutions. 

Dive Insight:

Consumers on Instacart can now place orders for Sunbasket meals starting at $11.99 per serving, and have the option of scheduling weekly delivery fulfilled by the meal delivery company. The meal choices will change weekly, Instacart's app notes. 

The Sunbasket storefront on Instacart offers meal kits and pre-prepped meal kits, soups, pizzas, empanadas, grain and noodle bowls, pasta and pasta sauce, proteins, Fresh & Ready meals, snacks and more. 

For Instacart, teaming up with Sunbasket furthers its efforts to place digital brands on its marketplace. In June, Instacart began powering a digital storefront for online meat seller ButcherBox, and last November launched The Wine Shop with alcohol e-commerce platform Drinks.

For Sunbasket, which has expanded its assortment significantly beyond traditional meal kits this year, the partnership provides added visibility. Allowing consumers to bypass the subscription through Instacart could boost the number of people who try out Sunbasket. Through Instacart, Sunbasket can reach more than 85% of U.S. households.  

The meal kit market is decelerating after its initial pandemic uptick, but is expected to outperform the total U.S. grocery market, according to Coresight Research. Sunbasket is up against HelloFresh, Blue Apron and other meal companies that aim to eliminate the hassle of shopping for ingredients and planning meals.

Founded in 2014, Sunbasket has altered its business model recently as it competes in an increasingly crowded space where meal kit and delivery companies are looking to differentiate themselves. At the start of this year, the company expanded into full-service food delivery, offering ready-to-heat meals and individual grocery ingredients, and also enacted marketing changes like condensing its name and launching a nationwide advertising campaign.