Meal kit company Marley Spoon is expanding its weekly menu to include a selection of vegan dishes, to cater to Australia’s fast-growing vegan market.
From October 28, Marley Spoon will offer three new vegan dishes each week, increasing the menu size from 20 to 23 items, and making it the first meal kit service in Australia to guarantee vegan options each week.
Marley Spoon Australia founder and managing director Rolf Weber said the roll out of new manufacturing technology earlier this year has allowed the company to provide more personalised menu options.
“The purpose of Marley Spoon has always been to bring delightful, market fresh and easy cooking to every Australian home and now we’re able to provide a greater variety of nutritious meals to our customers,” Weber said on Monday.
“The key to bringing this to life has been the implementation of our new highly automated pick and pack technology in our fulfilment centres. It’s allowing us to easily manage the complexities of an ever-expanding menu as well as picking our customers’ orders more efficiently. The new technology is the catalyst behind the expansion of our menus, catering for the needs and wants of even more Australians going forward.”
Weber said the new menu options meet the needs of consumers who seek to improve their health and wellbeing and/or reduce their impact on the environment.
“Better serving this need is an ongoing priority for us,” he said.
The vegan meals, which are completely free of all animal products, such as honey, eggs, meat and dairy, with ingredients sourced from vegan suppliers including Syndian Natural Food Products, Suzy Spoon, and Uncle Harry’s Vegan Grill.
The focus for the range is on “healthy, all-natural ingredients”, with no indication at this point that plant-based meat substitutes like V2 Food, Beyond Burger andChicken Free Chicken, will be featured.
Evan Murphy, culinary director at Marley Spoon Australia said the new menu has been in development for over a year to ensure quality and consistency.
“We know our customers love to cook and try new things so we’re really excited we can deliver something new and unique every week. They’ve been asking for more vegan options, but we needed to ensure we could do it in the right way, which means balanced, nutritionally sound recipes supported by premium, all-natural ingredients. We didn’t want to start delivering vegan options if they don’t meet our standard of quality,” Murphy said.
As with all Marley Spoon meals, customers will be sent the exact quantity needed to create their meal alongside a six-step recipe card.
Last month, Woolworths announced that it would loan Marley Spoon approximately $4 million, bringing its total investment in the business to approximately $34 million.
