Meal kit delivery services expanding into northern Ontario

A growing trend in home meal preparation is starting to take hold in communities in northern Ontario, according to an official with a company that offers meal delivery services.

Companies like Hello Fresh and Chefs Plate take online orders from customers, then deliver the necessary ingredients and recipes to the customer's home. In Canada, these services have been popular in larger centres, but that may be spreading north.

"Generally, all Canadians are receptive to any idea that demonstrates convenience and time efficiency," Irene Ngo, the head of culinary at HelloFresh Canada told CBC's northern Ontario program, Up North. "That is definitely one thing our northern Ontario consumers are excited about."

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The company, which Ngo said attempts to source ingredients close-to-home, currently delivers to places like North Bay, Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie, and Thunder Bay, with plans to expand further.

Helps with 'the chaos of life'

One Sudbury resident and entrepreneur said getting a lot of the prep work taken out of the meal process is beneficial when things get hectic.

"I try my best at meal planning, but with the chaos of life, it just kind of slips away," said Ainsley Loney. "The service really appealed to me in terms of time saving so I wanted to try it out."

So far, so good, she said.

Companies offer a number of different plans including but meals generally work out to between $9 and $13 per serving, according to the websites of HelloFresh and Chefs Plate.

Click here to listen to Up North Associate Producer Wendy Bird's piece on home meal delivery services.