Investors may want to chew over this tasty morsel: Americans are not only dining out more, but the "on-demand" culture, which first started with media, has spread to the food industry. Food delivery – whether restaurant take-out, subscription meal kits or grocery stores getting in on the action – has become big business. And people want their delivered food fresh and locally grown to boot.
That's a tall order for traditional food retailers to swallow.
Two recent events underscore these changes: Amazon.com's (ticker: AMZN) purchase of struggling high-end grocer Whole Foods Market (WFM) and an initial public offering by subscription meal seller Blue Apron Holdings (APRN).
With so much going on in the food industry, Joe Agnese, analyst at CFRA in New York, says this is an "exciting time" for companies and investors alike. As food companies adapt to America's dining habits, investors have myriad ways to bite into the trend. Successful companies, analysts say, will be those that respond to this new demand with mobile apps for placing and paying for orders, and home delivery of prepared meals.
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