Image: Chef'd was making progress at getting its products into retail thanks to its new packaging.
Meal kit company Chef'd has gone out of business.
Chef'd churned through millions it received from investors and companies like Smithfield Foods and Campbell Soup Co., and it could not secure more funding to keep going, according to the Wall Street Journal.
In a highly competitive segment where many companies deliver, Chef'd had made inroads at retail. The company placed meal kits at Gelson's, Costco, Tops Markets, Food Lion, Hy-Vee and had announced a pilot program with Walgreens.
Earlier this year, Sean Butler, at the time the senior vice president of retail for Chef'd, explained the company had developed extended-shelf life packaging that made the meal kits a much more viable option for retailers.
At the time, Chef'd planned to be in more than 1,000 retail locations by the end of June.
Meal kits have been a high-interest item in recent years but difficult to execute. What follows is a timeline of developments in the segment over the last 12 months.
There has been no shortage of activity in that span, with many retailers working to develop their own programs and others partnering with existing providers.