Chick-Fil-A Tests Meal Kits in Atlanta
Chick-Fil-A has officially become the first fast food restaurant to test out meal kits. The chain known for its chicken sandwiches has begun selling take-home meals (assembly required) at all of its Atlanta locations.
The contents are typical meal kit fare: Pre-measured ingredients that you can grab at the front counter or the drive-thru to take home and prepare yourself. So far, five recipes are available: Chicken Parmesan, Chicken Enchiladas, Dijon Chicken, Pan Roasted Chicken and Chicken Flatbread. According to USA Today, each kit feeds two people and takes about thirty minutes to prepare. If you want a chicken sandwich, you'll have to order one.
Chick-Fil-A’s rationale for the decision to launch meal kits seems a little counterintuitive: “We know our guests are busier than ever and need a variety of convenient dinner options,” Michael Patrick, the Chick-Fil-A executive who is leading the meal kit launch said in a statement. If families are busier than ever, wouldn’t it be easier to simply pick up an already-prepared meal from the drive-thru? Isn’t one of the main draws of fast food, after all, that it’s ready to eat the moment you get it?
Still, Patrick insists that the Chick-Fil-A meal kits are a better option than traditional services like Blue Apron because customers “don’t have to order ahead, subscribe to a service, or make an extra stop at the grocery store.”
Fast food meal kits are an interesting idea in theory, and the ones that Atlanta Chick-Fil-A outposts are testing seem to offer more nutritious and hearty meals than the options you'll find on their regular menu. But when the chain's always-satisfying standard fare is available quickly, easily, and at affordable prices, it’s hard to imagine people volunteering the extra effort to cook their own dinner instead. There is one more upside though: Now people who love Chick-Fil-A’s seasonings can add them to a whole range of chicken dishes, and that might be reason enough to try the new meal kits.
Chick-Fil-A is hoping the service catches on nationwide, but for now the meal kits will be only be available in Atlanta from August 27 to November 17.
