With food inflation still high, how can a company specializing in lunch boxes, a product that appeals to young families, grow its market?
Quebec-based Cook it wants to channel some of its growth by offering more upscale recipes for its ready-to-cook options. She wants to reach an older, more affluent clientele, for whom price is less of a decision factor, she who is currently rather popular with parents – from their 20s to the beginning of their 40s, according to her data.
Fortunately, Cook it has recently had a solid ace in its game: it got its hands on Menu Extra in December, which will greatly facilitate the expansion of the offer. Menu Extra offers gourmet ready-to-eat meals, closer to a “chef at home” experience than a meal to be assembled on the return from the office on a weeknight.
In order to clearly affirm the difference between its segments, the meal to cook signed by Menu Extra can be accompanied by a culinary workshop led by chefs Camilo Lapointe-Nascimento and Francis Blais – we are certainly moving away from the meal quickly made from already portioned ingredients.
“It’s a verticalization of the offer,” says Matyas Gabor, marketing director for Cook it.
“We want to talk to all consumers,” he says, and at different times about their eating behavior: Friday night dinner, Monday lunch and dinner with friends, weekends, whoever often with a good bottle (which Cook it also sells!).
Diversification or not, like most food companies, the past year has required adjustments and creativity in the kitchens of Cook it. “It hurt especially in 2022,” says Thomas Dubrana, director, products, who explains that the pandemic and inflation have required a rigorous revision of costs.
Despite this, prices had to be raised. The cost of subscription has increased twice in the last year.
Thomas Dubrana explains that when chefs create their new recipes, they see the cost of the meal, depending on the ingredients, and can modulate their creative impulses. Since protein is the most expensive, a meat like duck inevitably ends up in “premium” offers, which are bound to multiply.
Cook it has also favored the development of short channels with its suppliers and often does business directly with Quebec producers, eliminating all intermediaries. Thomas Dubrana points out that this allows Cook it to participate in the food sovereignty effort. “It was the pandemic that led us to this, but it’s been part of our values for years,” he says.
Finally, the argument of reducing food waste is used to convince customers to turn to meal kits in which all the ingredients are calculated. Cook it estimates that 2% of food is lost in its offer, while the Quebec average hovers around 40%, according to Recyc-Québec.
Founded: in 2014 by Judith Fetzer, Patrick Chamberland and Thomas Dubrana
Number of employees: 400
Acquisitions : Kuisto (2017), Miss Fresh (2019), Loccal (2021) et Menu Extra (2022)
Funding: Fonds de solidarité FTQ (10 million, 2021), Desjardins Capital (5 million, 2022)