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TECHNOLOGY Saturday 22 July 2017

Review: Amazon meal kits offer easy dinners _ for a price

By MARTHA BELLISLE Amazon lets you buy as you
Associated Press go, even spontaneously,
SEATTLE (AP) — Amazon’s notwithstanding the limited
new ready-to-eat meal delivery windows. And the
package is the perfect per-serving price is com-
recipe for someone who parable with rivals — with
doesn’t have enough time a catch . Meal kits require
to shop and cook, yet has membership in both Ama-
a healthy appetite and a zon Prime ($99 per year)
need for balanced meals. and AmazonFresh ($15 per
These meal kits come with month). Those fees along
just about everything you with the $10 delivery fee
need to prepare dinner for should be factored into the
two. You can choose from overall price of each meal,
a variety of vegetarian and which range from $16 to
meat options. For now, Am- $20 for two servings.
azon’s meal kits are avail- Amazon offers free delivery
able only in limited markets, for orders over $40, but you
including Seattle. lose freshness if you buy
There’s no major commit- multiple meals at once. In-
ment, the way rivals require stead, you could buy other
you to order an entire week groceries to qualify. Ama-
of meals at a time. But you zonFresh also has light bulbs
pay dearly for the conve- and laundry soap.
nience and flexibility, and Of course, it’s ultimately
you must plan ahead, at cheaper just to buy these
least for now. This Wednesday, July 19, 2017, photo shows the packaging of ingredients in a togarashi-spiced ingredients separately and
salmon dish that is one of the choices available as part of Amazon’s new ready-to-cook meal assemble the meal your-
ORDERING THE MEAL packages. Associated Press self. But if you buy a whole
As a competitive athlete of a loaf of bread, but it and oyster mushrooms the only other tasks. tray of mushrooms and
who trains a lot, generous came in a heavy bag that and cooked the salmon. I The servings were surpris- throw away all but the two
portions are almost as im- resembled a large paper cooked the soba noodles ingly large and visually ap- you eat, then it’s no lon-
portant as lots of protein. I grocery bag. Inside was a and edamame together pealing. Add a few glasses ger cheaper. Nor is order-
usually don’t eat red meat, silver insulated bag, nestled in boiling water, while I of white wine, and the ing takeout all the time,
and the chicken dish got inside a cardboard frame, warmed the soup base in a meal was the perfect end not to mention also being
a few bad reviews, so I and six ice packs. That’s a separate pot. Once done, to a very full day. less healthy. As someone
went for Togarashi-spiced lot of packaging. I chose I arranged the noodles, who’s often too busy to
salmon with soba noodles. the delivery option that al- edamame and salmon THE VALUE cook elaborate meals, I’m
It was $20 for two servings, lowed the driver to leave it on plates and sprinkled I’ve been curious about hooked.
plus $10 for delivery. at my door, which may ex- each with asparagus, meal kits for some time, but In fact, knowing I needed a
When I tried to place my or- plain the extra layers. mushrooms, scallions and rivals such as Blue Apron few groceries and dinner, I
der Tuesday, Amazon said Each item was individually sesame seeds. The meal and HelloFresh require you went on AmazonFresh early
the only delivery times left wrapped and marked. All includes a side of pickled to subscribe to ongoing Friday and was able to se-
that day were for 6 p.m. to I needed were a few pots ginger. deliveries and pick your cure an evening delivery. I
8 p.m. Before confirming and pans, a knife and some The recipe was easy to fol- meals a week in advance. added milk, juice and ba-
the order, though, those vegetable oil. The recipe low. I am an OK cook and I wasn’t willing to commit nanas to get free delivery.
slots were gone. also called for a pinch of have a few special dishes, to $60-plus per week for a I’m looking forward to
It was only 11 a.m. salt from my kitchen, but but I find recipes often take multi-meal plan without first roasted cod with cannellini
I could have gone to Ama- I didn’t feel the need. The a convoluted path from trying out the concept. bean ragout and pesto.q
zon’s pickup location in an- ingredients you had to sup- stove to table. This one had
other part of town, but who ply on your own were rea- seven easy steps, such as
has time for that, especially sonable, given that most boil the water.
in Seattle traffic? Instead, kitchens would have these. All this took less than 30
I chose delivery before 7 Everything else was provid- minutes, as promised. After
a.m. on Wednesday. It ar- ed, including some sesame about 10 minutes of wash-
rived before 5:30 a.m., as oil in a tiny container to ing veggies, chopping and
I headed out for a long saute my veggies. opening packets, the cook
morning run. time was minimal, just 13
A MEAL IN A HALF-HOUR minutes. Setting the table
FROM DOOR TO KITCHEN I sauteed the asparagus and opening the wine were
The meal kit was the size