eMeals meal planning service available through Albertsons

Albertsons is aiming to make it easier to shop for and cook healthy meals through a new relationship with eMeals.

eMeals, an online meal planner and shopping service, announced its integration with Albertsons’ online grocery shopping service on Sept. 30. The firm’s business can be summed up by its marketing tag line: “We plan, they shop, you cook.”

eMeals creates menus and meal plans for its customers and then arranges delivery or pickup of the required groceries as part of its service. Cooking instructions are included. The basic dinner-only plan is $5 a month. The subscription plan does not include any pickup or delivery charges from the grocery vendors who work with eMeals.

“eMeals has been at the forefront of the online grocery trend since our first integrations nearly three years ago, and we’ve continued to build out our retailer base to provide the broadest possible choice and coverage for consumers,” said eMeals CEO Forrest Collier. “These new integrations extend the eMeals benefits to Albertsons and Safeway shoppers in all 34 states where they operate, providing both meal inspiration and seamless online grocery ordering in a single, easy-to-use platform.”

eMeals already has service agreements with Albertsons’ rival Kroger, as well as Walmart, Amazon Fresh, Shipt and Instacart. The firm’s website now lists Albertsons and Albertsons-owned Safeway as chains that provide the shopping service portion of an eMeals subscription. The service will be available in all 2,250 stores owned by the Boise-based retailer, according to a press release, which implies that it can be used at all 18 chains owned by Albertsons.

As of the time of this article’s publication, Albertsons had not yet responded to inquiries as to whether eMeals would be available only at Albertsons and Safeway-branded stores, or if it would also be available at the 16 other grocery chains it owns.

eMeals customers can order their meal plans with an app or through an internet browser. Once an order is placed, the week’s ingredients are sent to the digital shopping cart of the subscriber’s chosen grocery store or delivery service. Subscribers can also opt to do their own shopping.

The subscription service includes programs for low-calorie, low-carb, diabetic, paleo, keto, budget-conscious, kid-friendly, Mediterranean, slow-cooker, vegan, vegetarian and 30-minute meals. It can be expanded to include lunch and dinner. Plans come in two sizes: for two or for a family.

Becoming one of the chains that works with eMeals is an interesting move for Albertsons because the grocery retailer already owns the Plated meal kit brand, which also started out as a subscription plan.

Albertsons acquired Plated in 2017 for $200 million. Albertsons discontinued all Plated subscriptions in November 2019 and converted Plated to an Albertsons’ private label for boxed and ready-to-go meal kits only available at its stores. The former owners of Plated are currently suing Albertsons on the grounds that the grocery retailer deliberately sabotaged the brand after acquisition to avoid contracted payout targets.