Kraft Partners with Meal-Assembly Chain

Kraft Foods is lending a handful of its brands to meal-assembly franchise chain Dinner by Design.

Consumers visit a Dinner by Design kitchen to assemble meals to take home and serve throughout the week. They can make up to 12 entrées (in about two hours) using ingredients and recipes provided by the chain in its 75 franchised locations.

Kraft will supply branded ingredients, including A.1. steak sauce, Grey Poupon mustard, Oreo cookies and Stove Top stuffing, for Dinner by Design meals, through Kraft’s North American Foodservice division. The companies will collaborate on promotions touting the name brands as part of the meal service.

The deal suits Kraft’s convenience strategy, and leverages its foodservice infrastructure in a new way as the fledgling meal-assembly industry establishes itself.

“We’re always seeking opportunities to help busy families prepare delicious meals quickly and this new collaboration with Dinner by Design will enable consumers to use the quality ingredients they already know and trust,” said Kraft Foodservice President Tom Sampson in a statement.

Chicago-based Dinner by Design expects to have 150 locations by yearend, expanding into states beyond its current base in Illinois, Indiana, New York and Wisconsin. A 12-entrée “session” costs $200; each entrée serves 4-6 people.

The company was founded by marketing and business-development veteran Julie Duffy, whose experience is evident in the chain’s current campaigns. A summer Thrill of the Grill sweeps dangles a Weber Q 300 gas grill as grand prize, to tout Dinner by Design’s summer grilling menus. A loyalty program launched in January, called Delicious Rewards, gives members one point for each dollar spent at Dinner by Design; members can redeem 1,000 points for $100 in food or merchandise.

Kraft’s brands add a halo to Dinner by Design’s menus; Kraft’s marketing smarts will help the chain, too. “Kraft brings trusted brands and quality ingredients that enhance the taste and quality of our entrees,” Duffy said in a statement. “Kraft Foodservice is unprecedented in its ability to deliver creative culinary solutions, important food trend information and other innovative support.”

For more coverage on marketing at retail
For more stories on games, contests & sweeps