Carrefour : Meal boxes tests in Belgium

At the start of October, Carrefour Belgium will start putting together, selling and distributing meal boxes, with particular emphasis on Belgian and seasonal ingredients.

Next month, Carrefour Belgium will commence online sales of its 'Simply You Boxes' - its own meal boxes. Simply You is the recipe magazine of which Carrefour Belgium distributes 600,000 copies every month. These boxes will be tested in ten stores - five Carrefour hypermarkets and five Market supermarkets.

Nine fresh, healthy recipes every week
Each week, nine new recipes will be on offer from which customers will be able to select three meals. Although obviously they will be free to choose, they can allow themselves to be guided by flavours, their favourite main ingredient (fish, meat, poultry or vegetarian) and how their families are made up - Carrefour Belgium has also given some thought to traditional family meals.
In putting these meals together, Carrefour Belgium's nutrition specialists will give preference to fresh, healthy products - and preferably ones from Belgium. Simply You Boxes will therefore most certainly delight all 'Belgetarians'.

Fast and easy
In addition to the fresh and healthy ingredients used in their preparation, Simply You Boxes are all about speed and ease. With the help of easily identifiable icons, customers immediately know how much preparation and cooking time is needed, and just how straightforward the dish is to prepare. Carrefour has set itself the target of meals that can be on the table in a maximum of 30 minutes - including preparation time.
Needless to say the recipes are explained with step-by-step instructions on practical sheets. For those who want more in the way of explanation, or who enjoy following tutorials on tablet computers when cooking, videos of each recipe are available on the Simply You Box website (link: www.SimplyYouBox.be).

Fast and easy to order
Preparing the meals has to be simple… and customers also have to be able to order their Simply You Boxes quickly and easily. Customers just go to the Simply You Box website and select the dishes they want in their meal box for the following week. They have up until Wednesday 11:59 PM to order their Simply You Boxes for the following week. And they can also submit orders for several weeks all in one go.

Obviously they'll find all the ingredients they need for their meal inside their Simply You Box - except for traditional spices, cooking utensils and other general products. These extra ingredients are carefully listed in the descriptions of each recipe. If customers have run out of these ingredients, they can order them in just a few clicks.

Wine suggestions from the sommelier of the year
Benoît Couderé - the sommelier of the year - joined Carrefour Belgium's wine team a few months ago and recommends a wine to go with each meal. As well as spices and olive oil, customers can also order the recommended wine in just a few clicks when they are putting together their Simply You Box.

Collect your box from a Carrefour Hypermarket or Market
On 1 October, Carrefour Belgium will be testing its Simply You Box concept on customers from ten of its stores; five Carrefour hypermarkets (Kuringen, Ninove, Auderghem, Bierghes and Mons) and five Market stores (Brasschaat, Schilde, Etterbeek, Waterloo and Tervueren).
They'll have up to Wednesday 11:59 PM to order their boxes online from the site and pick them up (and pay for them) at their store's Drive or collection point. Depending on customers' comments and suggestions, Carrefour Belgium will then extend its Simply You Box service across the rest of the country.

Price
Unlike many other meal box services, Simply You Box does not require any restrictive subscription. So customers don't have to unsubscribe if they're not going to be at home very much - or indeed at all - one week. But if they want, they can put together their Simply You Boxes once for several weeks. Customers then go to their store's Drive or collection point every Monday to pick up their order.
The cost is €40 for three meals for two people or €60 for three meals for four people. Carrefour has the following special launch offer: a Simply You Box for €30 for two people or €45 for four people.