Swedish retailer Axfood has decided to pull the plug on its meal-kit business Middagsfrid, citing weak demand for pre-planned subscribed meal kits.
Middagsfrid will cease to operate as of 30 September 2024, the retail group added.
The closure will impact 39 employees, and the retailer has initiated negotiations with the unions.
Axfood has also entered into an agreement with meal-kit provider Linas Matkasse to continue offering services to customers of Middagsfrid.
Hemköp will take over Middagsfrid’s database, comprising more than 8,000 recipes, to further strengthen its customer offering.
Axfood’s restaurant chain, Urban Deli, will take over Middagsfrid’s cooperation with Axfoundation and Torsåker Farm around innovation and the food of the future, the company added.
Middagsfrid
Established in 2007, Middagsfrid was among the first in the segment to offer home delivery of pre-planned subscribed meal kits.
Axfood acquired the business in 2017 and developed a new customer offering with flexible, healthy and modern meal kits.
Carl Stenbeck, head of strategy and business development at Axfood, stated, "During the past years, Middagsfrid has created a modern and appreciated offering of meal kits and contributed to food innovation in the Axfood Group.
"We constantly maintain a high development pace to strengthen our competitiveness within many areas, however as a result of a poor market development for pre-planned meal kits, we have now decided to close down Middagsfrid and instead make use of the value that Middagsfrid has created in new forms."
Currently, the online market for meal kits in Sweden is estimated to be less than 1% of the total food retail market.
The segment has been impacted by changed consumer behaviour due to high inflation.
