Dutch app-based supermarket Crisp has acquired meal kit business De Krat.
Crisp announced the acquisition in a LinkedIn post on Monday (Jan. 23), which will allow the two companies to pool resources to better serve customers.
Both companies operate in the Netherlands and place great emphasis on short local supply chains. For now, they’ll keep a separate brand identity and website, but “over time, we’ll really become a brand,” Crisp co-founder Eric Klaassen told change.inc.
For Crisp, the deal marks the second time the company has strategically acquired another company to benefit from business synergies, following the purchase of food supplier Eetfabriek in October.
In the case of Eetfabriek, Crisp took full ownership of a key supply chain partner, helping it bring more of its food purchases in-house.
With the recent merger, the grocery app will be able to add meal kits to its offerings. In turn, De Krat customers will have the opportunity to add additional items from Crisp’s inventory to their pre-ordered boxes.
As Klaassen commented in an article on tech.eu, “As a meal box user, you now have at your fingertips a wide selection of items from across the supermarket. And vice versa, when grocery shopping, you can add an option that lets you Always have all the ingredients delivered to your home for weeknight meals.”
In addition to being able to diversify its product offerings, De Krat will also benefit from Crisp’s logistics capabilities. While De Krat previously worked with external distribution partners, from now on Crisp will use its increasingly electrified fleet to handle meal box deliveries, the article said.
What’s more, joining forces with Crisp opens up the possibility for De Krat to expand its services to Belgium.
According to tech.eu, while there are no immediate plans to expand beyond the Netherlands, a Crisp representative said that “a further rollout in Belgium is definitely in the pipeline.”
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