Time Inc.’s All You and Health are foraying into the sector of branded weekly meal plans by enabling consumers to order food and view recipes via the eMeals mobile application, suggesting that even health brands must have a mobile ordering component to drive sales.

The partnership with eMeals, an online meal planning service, suggests that recipe sites or brands must now also have a component that allows fans to order recipes and have quick access to a slew of dietary options. Time Inc. believes that this displays the ability for its media brands to expand across various platforms and advance into potential new revenue streams.

“Mobile is an integral part of our overall growth strategy,” said Scott Jones, vice president of content and partnerships, eMeals, Birmingham, AL. “Almost half of our subscribers actively use our free iOS and Android mobile apps to receive their weekly meal plans and create customized shopping lists.

“The app allows customers have a true, start-to-finish solution that radically simplifies the entire notion of putting meals on the table every night.”

Natural extension
Teaming up with a meal planning service is a natural extension of features for Health and All You. Consumers can have the branded meals delivered via the free eMeals mobile application or via email.

The plans offer main dish recipes for a family of four for seven dinners weekly. Consumers can choose from weight management plans, family inspired plans and best sellers, as well as dietary options such as the Paleo diet.

The Health-branded recipes are designed with whole foods and lots of nutrition, while All You recipes are created to cost less than $3.50 per serving and are well-balanced to provide a good experience for the entire family.

“Weekly meal plans are delivered directly to the app giving subscribers the opportunity to view that week’s recipes and images,” Mr. Jones said. “They can then decide which recipes they want to have for the week and even ‘favorite’ the recipes they love and want to use again.

“Then with a tap of a button the relevant ingredients appear in a dynamic, interactive shopping list arranged by grocery store sections. Mobile is critical because the average user would be using their smartphone in the grocery store as a virtual shopping list checking off items as they go.”

Customers of the All You plan can also receive a bonus dessert recipe and breakdown for each meal that displays cost per serving.

Consumers that subscribe to both plans will be recipients of a nutritional analysis of each recipe as well as interactive shopping lists.

“In addition, the app’s auto-syncing feature allows different family members with different devices to select certain meals or add items to the shopping list – all of which is updated in real time,” Mr. Jones said.

Commerce potential
These types of mobile-oriented services have vast potential to drive significant amounts of commerce. Time-strapped and on-the-go consumers would likely appreciate having the ability to view customized meal plans on their mobile device and tap a button to have ingredients or already-cooked meals delivered to their homes.

Customers can purchase both the All You and Health branded meal plans for a minimum of $5 a month with a year-long subscription. The plans also come with two-week free trials.

EMeals believes that consumers will appreciate the capability to view curated, kitchen-tested recipes in a streamlined digital format that also allows for easy saving. The plans can act as practical tools to help save families time and offer a healthy set of meal choices.

The service may resonate with even more guests if the two magazines add shopping abilities into the eMeals app, to enable customers to purchase the ingredients shown and have them delivered in a timely manner.

“The response from consumers has been very positive,” Mr. Jones said. “Consumers love that the top-rated, kitchen-tested recipes from All You and Health magazines (two of the country’s most recognizable consumer publications) are now available in an easy digital format that simplifies dinner planning and also can be saved in one place for easy access.

“Better still, both All You and Health have an editorial mission that is right on target with our mission—so there’s true synergy there as well.”

Final Take
Alex Samuely is an editorial assistant on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York