'The brand needed to step up': How Coles-backed QuiteLike is challenging the meal kit market

Three years after entering Australia's fiercely competitive meal kit market, QuiteLike has a problem that many young brands would envy. Its customers are sticking around, but too many Australians still don't know it exists.

For head of marketing and commercial Erin Aherne, that has prompted a significant rethink of how the Coles-backed business markets itself, with a bigger creative platform, a sustained six-month media investment and an ambition to compete well beyond traditional meal kits.

“We're entering a new phase of growth for QuiteLike, and it felt like the right moment to back that with a louder voice,” Aherne told this publication.

“We've brought on a new Culinary Team led by Tobie Puttock, renowned executive chef from the River Café, and Fifteen London & Melbourne. We're developing new recipes and product concepts, we've broadened our range with ready-made meals and we're exploring new distribution channels.

“The brand needed to step up to match, so we've made it bolder and, I think, a lot more relevant to how Australians actually do dinner.”

That thinking sits behind a new creative platform developed by Universal Favourite and backed by the company's largest media investment to date. But rather than another short campaign burst, QuiteLike is taking a longer-term approach.

“This is the most significant investment for QuiteLike to date," Aherne said. 

The campaign runs from October through to the end of March and as Aherne explains is more than just a short burst. The immediate objective is to get more Australians to recognise the brand.

"It's a sustained presence over six months,” Aherne said.

“Awareness, first and foremost. Our retention is exceptional, but we're a challenger brand only three years into our growth journey, and plenty of Australians still haven't heard of us. That's the gap we want to close.”

To address that gap, QuiteLike has partnered with Matt Rossi and the team at Oodle Media on what Aherne describes as a lean, efficient and highly targeted media buy.

BVOD and SVOD are being used to deliver impact and targeting, retail out-of-home to reach consumers where they're already thinking about food, and transit advertising to build frequency. Performance activity is designed to convert that attention into customers.

“Brand building leads at this stage. Our food is our biggest asset, so visual channels matter a lot to us: we want people to see it,” she said.

“Early in a brand's life, executions that hold attention do a lot of the heavy lifting in building memorability. That's why we've put visual channels first this time, and we'll look at audio-only channels in future campaigns once the brand is better known.”

It's a deliberate decision to put brand recognition ahead of an immediate acquisition push, in a category where competitors have spent years building awareness and customer bases.

Convenience gets you in the door. Food keeps you there.

QuiteLike is operating in an Australian meal kit market it estimates to be worth $1.1 billion annually, competing with established operators including HelloFresh.

And while convenience has become the category's dominant selling point, Aherne believes it is no longer enough to differentiate one brand from another.

“For us it comes down to the food. It's a cluttered market, and most players are talking about convenience in one form or another. But if the food isn't great, you'll tire of it, however convenient it is,” she said.

“That's what makes meal kits such a demanding category. It's not something you buy once. It has to deliver several nights a week, week after week, and that's where we shine.”

She points to the company's customer feedback and its recognition by CHOICE as Best Meal Kit Delivery Service for three consecutive years.

“Customers tell us again and again that they've tried the alternatives and QuiteLike sits head and shoulders above, because the food is genuinely delicious,” she said.

“Our own research found 72% of people rank taste as the most important factor at dinner, so we know we're focused on the right thing.”

It's also why Aherne sees customer retention as an important competitive advantage, although the business has not disclosed specific retention figures.

“We like to say you come for the convenience, but you stay for the food, and our retention backs that up.”

Rethinking what dinner looks like

QuiteLike's growth ambitions are also changing the audience it wants to reach.

Research commissioned by the business found 96% of respondents use two or more ways of solving dinner throughout the week, switching between home cooking, meal kits, ready-made meals and takeaway depending on their schedules and energy levels. It also found that more than 60% are still undecided about dinner by 5pm.

But rather than trying to persuade consumers to commit to meal kits every night, QuiteLike is broadening its offer to fit those changing routines.

“The campaign is built on extensive research and one really clear insight: no single way of solving dinner covers the whole week,” Aherne said.

“Some nights you want to cook. Other nights you just need something good on the table.”

The company has expanded into ready-made meals, including products from 400 Gradi, Foxes Den, Dineamic, Coles Perform and Coles Kitchen, alongside its traditional meal kits.

“Our marketing brings 'cook' and 'heat' together, so customers can build a menu that flexes with their week rather than fitting their week around us,” Aherne said.

“It also widens who we're talking to: it's no longer just people who love to cook, but anyone who wants good food without the effort on a given night.”

The broader proposition is designed to give QuiteLike room to grow as new products and meal occasions are added.

“For me, it was about building a platform that grows with us. As we add new meal solutions in future, they slot straight into the same story.”

The Coles advantage

QuiteLike also has something its independent competitors don't: the backing of one of Australia's largest supermarket groups.

That relationship could become increasingly important as the business explores distribution beyond its existing direct-to-consumer model.

Its research suggests 68% of shoppers prefer buying meal solutions as part of their regular grocery shop, while 56% would consider adding individual meals to an online grocery order.

“There's a wealth of opportunity for QuiteLike within the Coles network,” Aherne said.

“We're currently exploring broader distribution opportunities through the Coles network, making it even easier to enjoy a little help with dinner.”

No formal distribution expansion has been announced, but the potential to connect QuiteLike with Coles' existing grocery customers presents another avenue for growth.

Aherne believes the combination of a small, responsive business and the resources of a major retailer is particularly valuable.

“We get the agility of a challenger brand with the know-how of one of Australia's biggest retailers, and that's a pretty great combination.”

The challenge now is to translate that advantage, an expanded food offering and a substantially larger marketing presence into greater recognition among Australian households.