「冷凍宅食」が、アツい コロナ禍を機に、弁当の定期配送広がる
栄養バランスのとれた冷凍弁当が定期的に届き、電子レンジで温めるだけ――。コロナ禍以降、「冷凍宅食」が広がり続けている。背景の一つに効率を重視する「タイパ」や、「カロパ」の価値観がある。
「３０分料理を作ると考えたら、もう時給分で『ペイ』じゃん、って思います」。約２年前から冷凍宅食を使う都内の経営者、堀田遼人さん（３１）は、料理を作る時間を時給換算すると、宅食は合理的な選択だと語る。
月１回１４食が届く。長期の利用に適用される割引もあり、１食あたり税込み６８０円。お気に入りのメニュー「レモンバターのやみつきローストチキン」では、主菜に加え、「キャベツと豆のトマト煮」など付け合わせ２品も付く。
きっかけは２０２２年１０月ごろ。コロナ禍を機にテレワークが増え、仕事の合間に自宅で効率的に昼食をとりたいと考えた。冷凍庫の容量が足りなくなり、すぐに２台目を買った。
週３日の頻度でテレワークをしている、広告会社員の妻（３０）は「化粧もしていない時は、ウーバーイーツの受け取りもしたくない。省エネです」。
堀田さんが使うのは、イングリウッド（東京都渋谷区）が運営する「三ツ星ファーム」というサービス。同社によると、利用者層は２０代から８０代まで幅があり、３０～４０代の女性の割合が高めだ。
コロナ禍の２０年から事業の構想を始め、２１年６月にサービスを始めた。「巣ごもり消費」の先に、共働き世帯の増加や高齢化などを見込んだ。
費やした時間に対する効果を意識する「タイムパフォーマンス（タイパ）」に加え、摂取カロリーに対する満足度を考える「カロリーパフォーマンス（カロパ）」を考慮。３５０キロカロリー以下、糖質２５グラム以下など独自の基準でレシピを作った。累計の出荷数は昨年１０月に２千万食を超えたという。
本間悠也ブランドマネージャーによると、冷凍宅食の強みは、おいしさ、利便性、栄養価の「かけ算」にあるという。「どれか一つだけで見れば外食やコンビニ、自炊に負けるが、全てがちょうど良くバランスがとれている」
１８年に冷凍宅食を始めたナッシュ（大阪市）によると、配信などで食生活が不規則になりやすい動画配信者や、プロゲーマーからも反響があったという。
昨年１月からは、食品大手「味の素」も「あえて、」の商品名で始めるなど、新規参入も相次いでいる。
矢野経済研究所の調査では、在宅食配サービスやネットスーパーなど２２年度の「食品宅配」の市場規模は前年度比２・３％増の２兆５３６３億円で、２７年度には約２兆９０７４億円に拡大する見通し。（小川聡仁）
■おもな冷凍宅食サブスクリプション（一定期間ごとに利用料を支払う）のサービス名と１食あたりの価格＝各社のウェブサイトから
・「ｎｏｓｈ」５９９～６９８円 冷凍宅配のサブスクの草分け
・「三ツ星ファーム」６８０～８９６円 有名店の料理人が監修
・「ＧＲＥＥＮ ＳＰＯＯＮ」８１１～９１６円 野菜がたくさんとれる
・「あえて、」７４５～９６１円 混ぜごはんの上におかずがのる
Frozen Home Delivery" is Hot! Corona Disaster Leads to Scheduled Delivery of Bento Boxed Meals
Nutritionally balanced frozen lunches are delivered on a regular basis and can be heated in a microwave oven. Since the Corona disaster, "frozen home-delivery meals" have been spreading. One of the reasons behind this trend is the "Taipa" or "Kalopa" value system, which emphasizes efficiency.
If you think about cooking for 30 minutes, the hourly rate pays for itself. Ryoto Hotta, 31, a business owner in Tokyo who has been using frozen home-delivery meals for about two years, says that home-delivery meals are a rational choice when converting the time spent cooking into an hourly wage.
Fourteen meals are delivered once a month. The cost is 680 yen per meal, including tax, with a discount applied to long-term users. His favorite menu item, "Yumitsuki Roasted Chicken with Lemon Butter," includes a main dish and two side dishes, such as "Cabbage and Beans in Tomato Sauce.
The impetus for the project came around October 2022. With the Corona disaster, teleworking increased and he wanted to have an efficient lunch at home during work. He ran out of freezer capacity and immediately bought a second unit.
His wife, 30, an advertising company employee who teleworks three days a week, said, "When I'm not wearing makeup, I don't even want to pick up Uber Eats. It saves energy."
Hotta uses a service called "Three-Star Farm" operated by Inglewood (Shibuya-ku, Tokyo). According to the company, the user base ranges from people in their 20s to 80s, with a high percentage of women in their 30s and 40s.
The company began conceptualizing the business in 2008, the year of the Corona disaster, and started the service in June 2009. The company anticipated an increase in dual-earner households and an aging population beyond the "nest egg consumption" trend.
In addition to "time performance (time-performance)," which considers the effect of time spent, "calorie performance (calorie-performance)," which considers satisfaction with calorie intake, is also taken into consideration. The total number of shipments exceeded 20 million servings in October of last year.
According to Yuya Homma, brand manager, the strength of frozen home-delivery meals lies in the "multiplication" of taste, convenience, and nutritional value. If you look at any one of these alone, it would be inferior to eating out, convenience stores, or cooking for yourself, but everything is just right and well balanced.
According to Nash (Osaka City), which began offering frozen home-delivery meals in 2006, the service has been well received by video distributors and professional gamers, whose diets tend to be irregular.
In January of last year, Ajinomoto, a major food company, also began offering the product under the name "Dare," and a number of new entrants have also entered the market.
According to a Yano Research Institute survey, the "food delivery" market, including home meal delivery services and Internet supermarkets, grew 2.3% year-on-year to 2,536.3 billion yen in FY2010, and is expected to expand to approximately 2,907.4 billion yen in FY2015. （The market size is expected to grow to approximately 2,907.4 billion yen in FY2015.)
Major frozen home meal subscription services (subscription fee paid at regular intervals) and prices per meal (from each company's website)
nosh": ¥599-698 Pioneer of frozen home delivery subscriptions
3tsu star Farm ¥680-896 Supervised by chefs from famous restaurants
GREEN SPOON ¥811-¥916 A lot of vegetables can be obtained.
Dare," ¥745-¥961, mixed rice with a side dish.
