Such chic boxes will be available from Monday at Aldi Süd. Image: dpa / Daniel Naupold
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Lidl failed with cooking boxes, Aldi Süd tries again anyway
Cooking is a fine thing – just make it easy. No problem. Imagine that you have all the ingredients in a compact box, along with the recipe and instructions. All of this is called the Kochbox and you can get it from Aldi Süd from Monday.
First of all, it’s just a week of action. The discounter is testing the format by the end of February. The price is also really cheap: For 3.33 euros you can get three different versions, tomato and pepper soup, lasagna and green Thai curry. You have to buy meat and cheese yourself if you want to. The boxes will later cost 4.49 euros.
The principle is not new, but so far the boxes were almost only available online. And yet Aldi sees a gap in the market here:
A competitor has already failed
However, Aldi competitor Lidl has already tried cooking boxes. Ultimately in vain. The discounter ended the test started in 2017 about a year ago. The reason: lack of demand. The Lidl cooking boxes were produced in cooperation with the now insolvent Kochzauber company. However, they were also considerably more expensive than the variant that Aldi Süd will now offer.
Boxes from online providers such as Hello Fresh are also more expensive. But does Aldi Süd not have to accept a loss in quality with the low price? No, the discounter says to watson – and provides another reason for the lower price:
Another point of criticism: sustainability
In addition to the questionable chances of success, there is also criticism of the boxes: They are mostly not suitable for singles – just too many ingredients in one box. Also, the food is not always as fresh as hoped. And finally, the sustainability effect that could result from the perfect purchase is immediately nullified by the plastic packaging.
But Aldi Süd emphasizes to watson that sustainability is at the top of the agenda: “The packaging of the cook box is made of unbleached cardboard and the banderole with handle is made of FSC-certified cardboard. For the sake of freshness and durability, a recyclable mono-plastic flow pack is attached to the cardboard.”
In general, all packaging components are recyclable – with correct disposal. The box also helps fight food waste:
