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Apr 29, 2022

Good morning. Google tells us that searches for “dating” have hit a 5-year-high, which raises the question: What are people hoping to learn when Googling the word "dating"?

You’re not going to find your soulmate from reading the "dating" Wikipedia entry. You will, however, stumble upon some insights on the 5 stages of dating: attraction, reality, commitment, intimacy, and engagement. Kind of true…

In the food world

Travel with Taco Bell: The brand associated with the chalupas, crunchwrap supreme and sometimes a bad stomach, has teamed up with Calpak to launch a capsule collection of travel essentials. The eye-poppingly colored luggage includes four items: the Fire! carry-on suitcase, Hot! duffel bag, Diablo! cross-body bag, and Mild! five-piece packing cube set.
Not a match made in heaven: Since taking over the reigns of Starbucks again this month, encouraging employees not to unionize has taken up a ~~large~~ venti amount of Howard Schultz’s time. The chain filed two complaints with the National Labor Relations Board alleging that Starbucks Workers Union had used unfair labor practices, such as intimidating and bullying against employees who did not support unionization.
When life gives you lemons, be Yoncé: From an album titled Lemonade in 2016, Beyoncé now wants to drink some in 2022 as she headlined a $31 million Series A financing round for Lemon Perfect, a maker of hydrating lemon water, bringing the brand’s total funding to $42.2 million and valuation to more than $100 million. The company plans to use the funds to scale its distribution to more than 40,000 points by the end of the year.

Meal kit skit

2007 was a year when Steve Jobs publicly announced the release of the first iPhone and also the launch of the first meal kit by Swedish company Middagsfrid. Currently, there are more than 150 registered meal kit delivery companies, the most popular being Blue Apron, Hello Fresh, and Sunbasket. While the iPhone accounts for 55% of the smartphones and Apple has a market cap of $2.58T, the meal kit industry has a market share of less than 1%, capping at ~$5b, and is sliding as swiftly as the iPhone touchscreen. Here is why.

Why were they initially popular?

Prior to our meal plans, busy and high-earning millennials welcomed the convenience these services offered.
Diets go in and out of fashion as quickly as Leonardo DiCaprio changes girlfriends. Each special diet comes with its own ingredients, which meal kits make easier to follow.
Pre-measured ingredients decrease the chances of food wastage while being healthier than restaurant food.

Challenges

Averaging $9-12 per meal per person is not affordable for budget-conscious customers, especially when you have to wash your own dishes.
Tiny soy sauce sachets and laminated recipe cards may look cute but are an environmental disaster.
The promise of never having to peel an onion does not hold true because most meal kits offer dinners only. People still have to buy groceries for other meals.

What next?

As restaurants are opening again, the initial surge of meal kits is fizzling away. As ironic as it sounds, meal kits themselves have led to the fall of these companies! People used meal kits as training wheels to get into cooking and canceled their subscription after perfecting the salt bae action.

As customers no longer see value in paying 30-40% more for diced squash, the meal kit business model needs to be improved. Expect a lot of consolidation in this industry. Grocery stores are getting in on the action by selling their own kits in stores, as seen by Kroger’s acquisition HomeCooks in 2018. Let us know what you think about the future of meal kits here.

Recipe of the week: Sesame Coconut Curry Ramen

- Tarun Sehgal @taruntriedit

True love is hard to find. Finding good ramen is harder! It matters not whether you’re having a fancy ramen bowl or a cup of instant noodles. Ramen is ramen, no matter what form. It’s something that always succeeds in filling people with warmth and satisfaction. This ramen recipe hits the spot on all accounts.

A hearty bowl of ramen noodles with rich, fatty and flavor bomb sesame coconut curry soup, topped with homemade Ajitsuke Tamago (perfect ramen eggs with jelly like yolk), pickled ginger, pan seared tofu, fried onions and butter sautéed corn.

Download Ramen recipe

Scan & go

Pizza for breakfast? Frozen pizza specialists at DiGiorno are hoping to bring breakfast pizzas to your grocery carts with a new line of morning pies. These include three flavors - sausage and gravy, eggs Benedict, and a cinnamon roll pizza. We wanted to tell you a DiGiorno joke along with this but could not deliver it.
New kid on the street: Häagen-Dazs announced the launch of its new City Sweets collection, which is inspired by street food desserts. The five flavors are dulce de leche churro, coffee chocolate brownie, chocolate peanut butter pretzel, summer berry cake pop, and black and white cookie.
Burgers with texture: If burgers, ketchup, and fries weren’t enough, the Kraft Heinz Co. is introducing Heinz Dip & Crunch, combining a dipping sauce and crunchy potato bits in a two-in-one combination pack to add flavor and texture to burgers. This product is available nationwide at Walmart, Meijer, Target, and Giant stores.

Meal plan

Figuring out what to make for dinner every week can be as frustrating as squeezing a ketchup bottle without shaking it! Thankfully, our meal plans are there to remove this frustration and make cooking at home feel as satisfying as getting all the answers correct on our weekly quiz!

One Pan Cajun Corn Orzo by @tikkastotapas: A perfect summer pasta dish that’s quick and easy to make.
Badami Paneer Curry by @carveyourcraving: Indian cottage cheese, cooked in and aromatic almond sauce and Indian spices.
Black bean sweet potato chili: Spicy, smokey and comforting. Yum!
Download meal plan

Did you know?

Contrary to popular belief, yams and sweet potatoes aren’t related. They are as distantly related as your salary expectation while interviewing and actual salary after getting a job offer.
Henry Tate, an English sugar merchant made a fortune by patenting the method of cutting sugar into small cubes in 1872. Our next big idea is sugar hearts!
The first drinking straw was constructed by winding strips of paper around a pencil and gluing it together. Check out the initial design here.

Quiz

The feeling of answering all the questions on our quiz correctly is as satisfying as cooking the dishes in our meal plans (clearly we are lacking creativity today). Let’s see how well you know your cooking techniques.

What technique is used to remove brown bits from a pan to flavor sauces, soups, and gravies?
In what technique is something cooked and preserved in its own fat?
What two techniques are used in combination cooking?

*Answers at the bottom

Kitchen tips

- by Nicole Jaques @theboardhousewifepdx

Cooking videos are deceptive because they conveniently hide the mess involved. There is an unwritten rule in cooking - the person who cooks does not do the cleanup. So this week, we wanted to help the silent heroes who make the kitchen functional. We leveraged the experience of serial hostess and party animal Nicole, who specializes in tips and tricks to make your next party or weeknight meal a lot more convenient. Here are a few of her top tips!

Dishwasher complete and your dishes still wet? It’s the bane of everyone’s existence! Prevent this from happening by covering the machine door in a kitchen towel and shutting it for about 5-7 minutes.
Cleaning burned pans can be an arm workout. Instead, grab a tea bag and pop it into the pan for 25 minutes with warm water. The tannins do the work so no scrubbing is needed.
Everyone loves a microwave explosion. Pop lemon slices into a bowl of water and run the microwave for 2-3 minutes. Wipe it down and you’re done. Smells like lemon too!

Media watch

"I want something baked, sweet, and RIGHT NOW!!!."

-A 6 months pregnant Paulomi Shah to Dhaval.

To make sure you do not land up in a similar situation, this media watch is for you!

☝🏼when the time is short and stakes are high, go with this perfect mug cake. Will save you both your time and your life.
This week’s ramen recipe calls for a refresher on Netflix Chef’s Table episode about Ivan Orkin (trailer)

While this simmers…

Do not let your friends/family/colleagues/neighbors/stalkers miss out on all the fun. Share the awesomeness here!

Simmer

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