MFB - My Food Bag

[artemis]

Never understood it myself, are people attracted to them being delivered at home or are people just lazy to get a recipe and pick the items they require. Its what I have always wondered, whats stops Countdown setting up an aisle with all the recipes for people to just grab a packed meal solution. 10x different meals all in one aisle, just pick n go or better get deliver. Anyways I love food shopping so dont see myself or family using the service.

New World trialled meal kits in a few places a couple of years back. Don't know if they still do them.

I agree with minimoke above about saturation in NZ. MFB have extended their range a lot but I suspect the new offerings cannibalise each other to a large extent. Maybe their Bargain Box less so.

MFB is not cheap but that is obviously not a barrier for a lot of households that are time poor and juggling too much.

One aspect not often mentioned is that MFB is a great way for kids to learn to cook. Easy to follow recipes, everything right there and mostly measured ready.

[stoploss]

New World trialled meal kits in a few places a couple of years back. Don't know if they still do them.

I agree with minimoke above about saturation in NZ. MFB have extended their range a lot but I suspect the new offerings cannibalise each other to a large extent. Maybe their Bargain Box less so.

MFB is not cheap but that is obviously not a barrier for a lot of households that are time poor and juggling too much.

One aspect not often mentioned is that MFB is a great way for kids to learn to cook. Easy to follow recipes, everything right there and mostly measured ready.

Right on Artemis ,MFB is teaching a generation how to cook . If you are both working and can pull in an extra $ 100 for another hours work each day ( $ 500 if you are a dentist) ....
why not pay a slight premium to have everything there waiting for you.

[artemis]

I have friends that use it. They love it, but they are yuppies, on big salaries so like supper convenient things. You get a weeks worth of food or so many meals. By the sounds of it, no recipe is the same, they have a huge folder with recipes in it. Most of the recipes use out of the norm ingredients, which is all in the box, but she said to replicate it would not be easy, as most people wouldn't carry those in ingredient in their pantry. I thought it was quite expensive also. So surely there is only a certain part of the market that would subscribe.

Can't agree with your friends unless their pantry contains only tinned tomatoes and chickpeas. Certainly there are pantry ingredients such as freekeh that might be a tad unusual to some, but actually are readily available at the supermarket and not expensive.

Wrt the last sentence fortunately investors can decide on investments without having to personally experience them.

[Beagle]

Huge numbers of families are time poor these days with both parents working long hours but the fact is there's a wide range of cheap takeaways available for most people within a short drive that is FAR easier and more time efficient than cooking yourself and it often works out cheaper with no wastage and no power.
Highly likely MFB has already hit or very close to peak saturation and I agree with others comments this is something that supermarkets could very easily replicate.
Anyone noticed how the supermarket chains are rapidly expanding their house brands ?

[mondograss]

Foodstuffs owns Pams, so it's really not hard for them to get into this area of the market if they want to.

[minimoke]

I've seen exactly that sort of thing at PaknSave, prepackaged food kits etc. Always struck me as a lot more expensive than just buying the ingredients separately, but I can see the convenience. Really there's a very low cost of entry to this sort of thing and there are competitors like World on our Plate or Jess Underground Kitchen if you can't be bothered even doing the cooking. I can see either Foodstuffs or Progressives making a push in this space and combining it with their online supermarket shopping offering.

If you cant even be bothered cooking there is also Uber Eats. $12.90 for a Royal Roast Served with potatoes, pumpkin, kumara, and mixed veggies. Choice of sauce gravy, mint sauce, apple sauce, and horse radish .sauce. Or something from one of dozens of outer food outlets.

[kiwidollabill]

I could see a similar sort to trajectory to TME after IPO. Good service, but really stuck on our own little island as there are PLENTY of other companies that are working at scale offshore. Little ability to grow the pie, other that eat at the current food spend c.f. supermarkets (and how far have they accessed this market?). Any guesses at what their NP% will be....?

[Ninefingers]

We use MFB, I work nigh on 60 hours per week and my partner is studying all day 7 days a week, so time is the main thing this saves, plus not having to come up with interesting new things to cook. Groceries (there is still a quick weekly shop) plus MFB is about the same as what we used to spend all up, but the time/mental currency saved is good. The food has been great and there is usally some leftover for lunch. It is a bit of a luxury though and I'd be skeptical how much more this business could scale up...

[minimoke]

The IPO getting closer ...soon maybe

Brokers salivating at the prospects of brand retail punters know and understand

Company going through the dressing up for sale stage. Can’t wait for the glossy brochures

Just what we want ....another high growth company on the bourse

Plan is to list before end of next year. Waterman Capital hold 70% so time to tell how good are they at dressing up an IPO's

[Blendy]

I've been a dedicated MFB subscriber basically every week since they first began. I would never go without it! The time saving is the best part, and not having to go to the supermarket (except for non food items). Another great feature is getting kids involved in cooking, especially once they start cooking at school as well, they can follow MFB recipes. Essentially all you are doing is basic assembly of some fancy items.

I get the Gourmet Bag every second week and we enjoy fancy meats with ridiculously fun accompaniments and garnishes, and the other weeks we get the Bargain Box (when we have 4 fussy children). The Gourmet selection was a bit too much for my partner's children with limited palates ("what are these vegetables called?", so I 'downgraded' to Bargain Box which is much more basic, and with cheaper meats so you get way more. Lots of mince and pasta and potatoes etc. But still, recipes that are all extremely nutritious, quick to prepare, and filled with vegetables.

I also get the MFB Lunch Box which I subscribe for my own children, and also to provide the afternoon tea at my after school care programme I run. Then I've got dinners sorted, school lunches sorted, and quite often, leftovers for adult lunches too.

I would not do without this service, but I feel I've maxxed out my spending and will remain at this level. I'm probably at the higher end of the subscriber scale, getting a large meal box and multiple lunch boxes every week. I imagine most people would subscribe to one thing. Their growth has been so fast and strong throughout multiple cities in NZ, and I think they are the third largest grocery store after the supermarkets. I'm not sure how much more NZ growth there could be in an IPO, unless they tackle international markets - but that comes with logistical difficulties and all sorts. Possibly someone could buy them out eventually? I'm not sure what the long play would be? A subscription model for groceries doesn't suit everyone, and surely the people who it does suit are already doing it.

I'm in two minds about what to do if they list... I absolutely love their product and will continue to support them because it suits my lifestyle.... but from an investment perspective, I'm not sure what the future returns are likely to be. Has it already peaked?