• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.548-557
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• 2019

With the increase of single households and more women entering society, changes to lifestyle, a demand for convenience, and the recent trend for homemade meals, the market for HMR(Home Meal Replacements) is rapidly growing. This study reviewed the repurchase intentions of consumers for RTP(Ready-to-Prepare) HMR products, namely meal kits, and the moderating effect. The study found that i) ease of use increases with higher self-efficacy; ii) ease of use decreases with higher personal innovativeness, but usefulness and repurchase intentions increased; iii) repurchase intentions increase with higher social influence; iv) trust decreases with higher convenience, but repurchase intentions increased; v) trust and repurchase intentions increase with higher economic efficiency; and vi) price sensitivity has a moderating effect between trust and repurchase intentions. The outcomes of this study will not only provide a theoretical basis for a more detailed study of HMR, but is anticipated to be used as fundamental data for suggesting a direction for marketing strategies for product development and sales.

• The Journal of Industrial Distribution & Business
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• v.13 no.12
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• pp.1-8
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• 2022

Purpose: This study aims to analyze the importance of customers' selection attributes for meal kits, which is rapidly increasing in the home meal replacement food market, and empirically analyze the effect of food selection attributes on consumer satisfaction and repurchase intention toward meal kits. Research design, data, and methodology: Based on the results of previous research, factors that customers consider the most when purchasing a meal kit are nutritional components, ingredients, hygiene, taste, and price. The empirical analysis is conducted by using structural equation modeling to determine the extent that customer selection attributes for meal kits affect customer satisfaction and repurchase intention. The survey is conducted online from January 1 to March 15, 2022, and 282 valid samples are used for the analysis. Results: The result of the analysis confirms that nutritional components, hygiene, taste, and price have a statistically significant effect on customer satisfaction and repurchase intention. However, the effect of food ingredients on customer satisfaction and repurchase intention is rejected because no statistically significant results are obtained. Conclusions: As an empirical analysis of the importance of customer selection attributes of meal kits, this study has meaningful implications for related industries and business-to-business operators and provides basic data for the strategic development of related industries.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.123-139
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• 2023

In this study, a survey was conducted on the development of meal kits for children's foodservice to increase the convenience of the cooking process. It was performed among the foodservice managers in the 141 children's foodservice facilities registered in the Center for Children's Foodservice Management about meal-kits in Changwon areas. The survey results were analyzed according to the children's foodservice scale type. The biggest problem in a foodservice system was "difficult to purchase food ingredients directly every week" (38.4%) in small-scale children's foodservices, and "difficult to use the served menu without modification" (38.2%) in institutional children's foodservices (P<0.001). The most important factor when choosing the meal kit was "quality" (41.1%). Respondents on having an experience with using the meal kit were low at 34.8%, and the reasons for not using the meal kits were "expensive" (67.3%) and "not fresh food ingredients" (18.4%). The main reasons for not using children's foodservice meal kits were "expensiveness" (64.4%) and "necessity of adding disinfection process" (16.1%). Most of the reasons for not wanting to use children's foodservice meal kits were that they did not trust the safety of the meal kits. The use of meal kits in children's foodservices may reduce the preparation process and increase the efficiency of foodservice although the safety and quality of meal kits should be guaranteed. The appropriate hygiene management standards need to be set, and HACCP should be applied to develop meal kits for children's foodservices.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.246-257
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• 2023

In this study, the Extended Theory of Planned Behavior (ETPB) was applied to analyze consumers' intention to purchase meal kits. The perception of ESG management practiced by companies was used as a moderating variable to investigate its influence and moderating effects between each variable. An online survey was conducted over 4 days in January 2023 on consumers aged 20 years or older who had purchased meal kits within 6 months. Hypotheses were tested using IBM SPSS Statistics 22.0 and AMOS 24.0 programs with an effective sample size of 324 copies (100%). Attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, perceived sustainable package, and price sensitivity of the theory of planned behavior toward meal kit products had a significant positive effect on purchase intention, and all research hypotheses were accepted. The moderating effect of consumers' perceptions of ESG management practiced by companies had a positive and significant effect on attitude and perceived behavioral control.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.352-363
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• 2021

This study aimed to examine the different factors affecting the intention to purchase meal kits between at-home concept meal kits and eating-out concept meal kits. An online survey was conducted with 565 Korean participants including meal kit experienced (n=412) and non-experienced (n=153). Meal kits selection attributes were organized into five factors, health, price, environmental protection, convenience, and familiarity. To verify the hypothesis, SPSS Statistics 23 was used. The main results can be summarized as follows. First, in the case of the at-home menu, convenience(p < .01), environmental protection(p < .05), and familiarity(p < .01) show positive influences on willingness to buy. Second, for the eating-out menu, health(p < .001) and convenience(p < .001) have positive effects on willingness to buy, but familiarity(p<.01) has a negative effect. This is the first study to categorize the menu of meal kits and investigate each factor affecting willingness to buy. Therefore, the results can offer useful guidelines to meal kit marketers letting them know the consumers' purchase behaviors.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.375-381
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• 2020

This study assessed the contamination levels of total aerobic bacteria, fungi, coliforms, Escherichia coli, Bacillus cereus, and Staphylococcus aureus and qualitative analysis of Salmonella spp. and Listeria monocytogens in six raw materials (beef, bean sprout, Chinese cabbage, king oyster mushroom, Korean cabbage, and sweet pumpkin) of home meal replacement (HMR) Shabu-Shabu meal kit distributed in markets. The total aerobic bacteria, fungi, and coliforms were detected as 3.98-6.50, 2.78-3.52, and 2.02-3.28 log CFU/g, respectively. Especially, beef was highly contaminated with total aerobic bacteria (6.50 log CFU/g) and coliforms (3.28 log CFU/g). Over 5 log CFU/g of total aerobic bacteria were also detected in bean sprout, Chinese cabbage, and sweet pumpkin. Less than < 2 log CFU/g of coliforms were detected in all vegetables. E. coli was not detected in any of the six samples (ND: < 1 log CFU/g). S. aureus was detected as 1.33-1.71 log CFU/g in most samples but it was not detected in beef and Korean cabbage. B. cereus was assessed as 1.15-2.01 log CFU/g in most samples but it was not detected in Korean cabbage. L. monocytogenes was qualitatively detected as 25-50% in most samples except for king oyster mushroom. Salmonella spp. were not qualitatively detected in any of the six samples. The microbial contamination levels determined in the current study may be potentially used as the basic data to execute microbial risk assessments of HMR foods such as Shabu-Shabu meal kit.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.457-463
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• 2023

To investigate residual pesticide levels in agricultural products contained in Meal-kits, 27 Meal-kit products were collected from marts, Meal-kit shops, and online stores in Incheon City, South Korea. Seventy-six vegetable and thirty-seven mushroom products were analyzed for residual levels of 339 pesticides. Residual pesticides were detected in 23 out of 76 vegetables and were not present in the 37 mushroom products. The residual pesticide detection rate was 20.4% (23/113 cases). The pesticides famoxadone 0.034 mg/kg (standard: 0.01 mg/kg or less, PLS) and fenpyroximate 0.302 mg/kg (standard: 0.01 mg/kg or less, PLS) exceeded their maximum residue levels (MRL). This survey revealed that various types of pesticides remain in agricultural products in Meal-kits. Due to the nature of Meal-kit products, there is no separate standard for residual pesticides in agricultural products. Therefore, continuous monitoring of residual pesticides is necessary.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.15 no.sup1
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• pp.22-31
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• 2021

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a new type of respiratory disease that has been announced as a pandemic. The COVID-19 outbreak has changed the way we live. It has also changed the food service industry. This study aimed to identify trends in the food and food service industry after the COVID-19 outbreak and suggest research themes induced by industry trends. This study investigated the industry and academic information on the food and food service industry and societal trends resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak. The most noticeable changes in the food industry include the explosive increase in home meal replacement, meal-kit consumption, online orders, take-out, and drive-through. The adoption of technologies, including robots and artificial intelligence, has also been noted. Such industry trends are discussed in this paper from a research perspective, including consumer, employee, and organizational strategy perspectives. This study reviews the changes in the food service industry after COVID-19 and the implications that these changes have rendered to academia. The paper concludes with future expectations that would come in the era of COVID-19.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.235-240
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• 2022

In this study, the delivery conditions and microbial contamination in Mille-feuille Nabe and fresh spring roll meal kits purchased online were assessed. The average surface temperature on the product arrival was 14.4℃. The average number of total aerobic bacteria and coliforms in Mille-feuille Nabe was 3.27 log CFU/g and 1.27 log CFU/g, respectively, in meat, and 6.66 log CFU/g and 2.94 log CFU/g, respectively, in vegetables. The average number of total aerobic bacteria and coliforms in fresh spring rolls was 3.82 log CFU/g and 1.93 log CFU/g in meat, and 5.62 log CFU/g and 3.31 log CFU/g in vegetables, respectively. Escherichia coli was detected in bok choy and perilla leaves, with an average of 0.86 log CFU/g. Salmonella spp. and E. coli O157:H7 were not detected in any of the samples; however, Listeria monocytogenes was detected in all three beef samples. Therefore, before consuming meal kits, sufficient washing and heating are recommended to prevent occurrences of food poisoning.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.1-14
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• 2023

This study was conducted to explore the change in the market issues on HMR (Home Meal Replacements) using local foods after the COVID-19 outbreak. Online text data were collected from internet news, social media posts, and web documents before (from January 2016 to December 2019) and after (from January 2020 to November 2022) the COVID-19 outbreak. TF-IDF analysis showed that 'Trend', 'Market', 'Consumption', and 'Food service industry' were the major keywords before the COVID-19 outbreak, whereas 'Wanju-gun', 'Distribution', 'Development', and 'Meal-kit' were main keywords after the COVID-19 outbreak. The results of topic modeling analysis and categorization showed that after the COVID-19 outbreak, the 'Market' category included 'Non-face-to-face market' instead of 'Event,' and 'Delivery' instead of 'Distribution'. In the 'Product' category, 'Marketing' was included instead of 'Trend'. Additionally, in the 'Support' category, 'Start-up' and 'School food service' appeared as new topics after the COVID-19 outbreak. In conclusion, this study showed that meaningful change had occurred in market issues on HMR using local foods after the COVID-19 outbreak. Therefore, governments should take advantage of such market opportunity by implementing policy and programs to promote the development and marketing of HMR using local foods.