Gelson’s Rolls Out New In-Store Meal Kits

Gelson’s Markets is now carrying new in-store meal kits from Newport Beach, Calif.-based True Food Innovations under the True Chef and Chef’d brands. Featuring fresh, clean-label, preservative-free recipes, the items require just 15 minutes of total preparation and cooking time. Both meal-kit lines are available for purchase at all of the Southern California grocer’s locations.

As part of what True Food Innovations founder and CEO Alan True called a relaunch of the Chef’d and True Chef brands at Gelson’s, the food retailer is offering recipes from both product lines, among them Truffle Butter Sirloin Steak, Chicken Marsala and Saffron Tomato Chicken.

Chef’d abruptly shut down its business and fired employees last July, after having embarked on physical distribution agreements in 2017 with Gelson’s Markets and northeastern food retailer Tops Markets, followed by deals with such other retailers as Costco, Harris Teeter, Hy-Vee and Weis Markets. A week after the shutdown, True Food Innovations acquired Chef’d’s assets, including its plant, property, equipment, brand and intangible assets, for an undisclosed amount, with the aim of consolidating all of Chef’d’s assets into True Food Innovations’ existing business and bring the brand back for physical retailing.

“We pride ourselves in providing our customers top-quality product and look forward to a successful relationship with True Chef and Chef’d meal kits,” noted Gelson’s Senior Produce Executive Paul Kneeland.

“Our strategy is to provide retailers with a multibrand offering with the ability to provide meal- kit options based on price, demographics and geography,” added True Food Innovations President Robert Jones. “Gelson’s agreed with us and has built a destination with both the True Chef and Chef’d brands for its consumers.”

Encino, Calif.-based Gelson’s operates 27 specialty grocery stores in Southern California.