NEW YORK CITY, NY - Are meal kit companies barely squeaking by? While this could be a gross overestimation of the state of the market, there are a few signs that don’t seem to bode well for what was once a quickly growing sector—particularly following news that meal kit company Plated is undergoing corporate layoffs.

Earlier this year, Plated’s Co-Founder Josh Hix stepped down from his role as CEO. This news was then followed by headlines proclaiming Albertsons was removing its Plated meal kit offerings from store shelves, which hit the newswire late last month. This week, Bloomberg reported that the retailer-owned meal kit company is cutting 10 percent of its workforce.

According to the news source, the job cuts are confined to Plated’s New York City corporate staff and will affect about 25 employees.

“The responsibilities of those individuals will be distributed among the remaining staff at Plated as well as other teams in Albertsons,” wrote Christine Wilcox, Albertsons' Vice President, Communications & Education, in an email to reporter inquiries. In the email, Wilcox noted that the cuts come during a time when Plated is focusing on reducing expenses and better utilizing company operations.

In addition to Plated, Blue Apron has struggled to stay afloat, with headline after headline seeming to paint a bleaker picture of the state of the company.

What does this mean for meal kit companies? Are the likes of Blue Apron and Plated simply implementing strategies to streamline operations and stay competitive? AndNowUKnow will continue to report.

Plated Albertsons