Popular meal-kit subscription service Plated is set to close by the end of November

Plated meal recipe service kit Megan Willett

Albertsons Companies announced that the popular meal-kit subscription service Plated is set to phase out by the end of November, shifting the brand to become one of the grocery retailer's private label products.
The end of the subscription service was meant to make way for "a sharper focus on how the brand can help deliver a differentiated in-store experience," Albertsons said in a statement.
The past year proved to be difficult for the meal-kit subscription service after Albertsons diminished the availability of meal kits and laid off 10 percent of Plated's corporate staff.
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Albertsons Companies announced this week that the popular meal-kit subscription service Plated is set to phase out by the end of November, shifting the brand to become one of the grocery retailer's private label products.

The Boise, Idaho-based grocery chain said in a news release that the end of the subscription service was meant to make way for "a sharper focus on how the brand can help deliver a differentiated in-store experience." Plated will be brought under the company's Own Brands division.

"We are closing our subscription service and are therefore unable to accept new customers right now," the Plated website says in a message to visitors. "If you have any outstanding credits, they will be refunded to your card on file. To all our loyal customers, we want to thank you for welcoming us into your homes and for the opportunity to serve up chef-designed recipes for the last seven years."

Business Insider could not immediately reach Albertsons for more information about the decision.

Plated was started in 2012 by two Harvard Business School grads, and the company appeared on "Shark Tank" in 2014, and then in a "Beyond the Tank" segment, after which Kevin O'Leary made an investment. After being acquired by Albertsons in 2017, Plated meal kits became available in grocery aisles as an alternative to its delivery service in 2018.

However, 2019 proved to be a difficult year for the meal-kit subscription service after Albertsons diminished the availability of meal kits and laid off 10 percent of Plated's corporate staff, The Spoon reported. Plated co-founder and CEO Josh Hix left the company in January 2019; co-founder Nick Taranto left in October 2018.