On Wednesday, November 7, 2018 at 7:44:43 PM UTC-10, Julie Bove wrote:
> I took my friend shopping yesterday to a Fred Meyer that was just remodeled.
> For those not familiar with Fred Meyer, they are one of those stores that
> sells most everything. They recently began selling some items online. This
> particular store said the remodel was so they could sell a greater variety
> of of food but they had to cut back on other things.
>
> The new layout makes no sense. The entire back of the grocery section
> zigzags around with things like meat and dairy products but there are odd,
> free standing coolers of things like ham. Makes it super hard to find stuff.
> Even the produce section has a weird layout.
>
> But the weirdest thing was the sign overhead telling us that the boxed meal
> kits were there. Say what? I had to peek because it clearly wasn't stuff
> like Blue Apron as it wasn't a refrigerated aisle. What they meant was boxed
> mac and cheese, Hamburger Helper and things of that ilk.
>
> My friend doesn't cook. She can make a few things like pot roast but would
> be totally lost without things like seasoning packets and she thinks stuff
> like Hamburger Helper are the way to go. I don't get it. If you want
> something *like* Hamburger Helper, it's easy enough to do from scratch. I
> just can't see the need for such things.

I was at Sam's Club today and saw meal kits. I think they're great. They allow people to cook things they wouldn't normally think of preparing. This is a very good thing. My first pizzas were made from kits. I learned a lot from those box meals. My guess is that it's as great an experience for today's kids and young folks as boxed pizza was for me.