Selling Meals to Singles

I can remember being a single in Australia and living by myself. I was working a 9-5 job on the weekdays and some weekends and have the whole day by myself during the weekends. However 1 day of each weekend is consumed by grocery shopping, cleaning the apartment, washing clothes and ironing them...

Being Independent Can be Hard

My remaining one (1) free day was consumed by sleeping till noon and socialising afterwards. During the weekdays I spend almost 3 hours travelling to and from work. When I get home I prepare for dinner for 1 hour or so and eat a leisurely dinner for more than an hour. I then spend my remaining few hours relaxing after a full and tiring day.

If you are a single living alone whether male or female chances are that you have the same weekday and weekend routine as I am. You may be independent from others but this same independence can be causing you more time and money than people who live together like families who share expenses and home chores.

The Difficult Chore of Preparing Food

You cannot escape the drudgery of having to spend a long time washing and ironing your clothes even if you are lucky enough to have a laundromat nearby. With cooking however it is a totally different thing. Restaurants, fast food establishments and other food suppliers are so ubiquitous that it is almost impossible not to pass at least one on your daily route.

I tried cooking meals for myself and I find that I tend to cook for more than one person. Most food and ingredients are simply not sold and packed for single serve use. There is no problem if you want to eat foods that have similar ingredients as you would readily finish off all the food and ingredients in no time preventing spoilage and wastage of food.

The problem is almost all people want a variety of foods to eat. Almost all people want to eat a different meal from the one they had before. Even single people living alone are not immune to this. As a result single people have many partially used ingredients when they cook food.

Whether cooking for yourself or for a small group like a family the time spent cooking is usually identical. This is the reason why there are singles who cook for more than one person and have the same dish for several days to save on cooking time. This is not a pleasurable way to consume meals but is practical.

Buying Food for Yourself can be Costly

Buying groceries too is a similar situation to cooking. When I buy sliced bread for example it takes months for me to finish it. This is because I hardly eat sliced bread and when I do it is usually for breakfast only. The sliced bread ends up taking space in my refrigerator for months at a time. If a family however buys slice bread it usually just takes days to be finished.

The same is true for vegetables. Many vegetables in Australia are sold in large quantities. Cabbages for example are sold whole and not in slices, potatoes are sold in bags and so are garlic and onions. These portions are simply too big for the average single to finish off before they spoil.

A Meal Specifically for Individuals at Home

Enterprising people should address these problems to have more sales from single persons. There are companies for example in Australia who supply an assortment of nutritious and well balanced microwaveable meals especially sized for one person. I know of a company who even provides a small refrigerator to store a full months supply right in the home of the customer.

This is so convenient for the single person because they do not have to spend time cooking or shopping for food and ingredients. They also do not have to spend time washing any dishes as these products come in disposable containers complete with plastic spoon and forks. All they have to do is microwave the meal for a few minutes and it is ready to be eaten.

I also know of an Asian restaurant selling near closing time much smaller portions of dishes they usually serve during normal hours. I know the reason. Asians almost always eat rice with their dishes. This restaurant knew that the buyers of their dishes probably have rice at home but not dishes to eat their rice with.

They also know that by selling smaller portions they are able to almost match the price of a home cooked meal for a single serving with rice. This makes their product attractive to single persons who are budget conscious and convenience oriented.

These are just 2 examples of how meal sellers have found a way to sell to the single market. There are more ways to sell to these people.

Conclusion

The important thing is that meal sellers are aware of the time and budget problems faced by singles regarding meals and can provide the singles with solutions which would earn the meal sellers an income.