“Workin' 9 to 5, what a way to make a livin’,” so sings Dolly Parton in her 1980 Oscar-nominated movie hit. If Dolly had been writing in the post-Pandemic working-from-home world, those lyrics might have been somewhat different. Not quite as catchy, I suspect – ‘hybrid-first,’ and ‘agile working’ don’t scan very well.
But, in 2026, W.F.H. is no longer the de facto norm. Many companies are asking employees to return to the office. Retail Times comments, “This seismic shift is transforming dinner time with average cooking time at an all-time low of 30 minutes for dinner.”
And Gousto have taken note.
Last month’s ‘Specialist Online Service of the Year’ at the 2026 Grocer Gold Awards, Gousto built its name by making home cooking easier – producing recipe boxes that combine fresh ingredients with app delivery.
And, like many meal-prep businesses, Gousto enjoyed a Pandemic-era boom, with revenue rising 129% to £189m in 2020. After that surge, however, the meal-box market flattened.
So, recently, they have changed strategy. As The Grocer points out, the company decided to “look beyond the recipe kit sector and more directly challenge the supermarkets for the mainstream dinner market.”
Gousto trialled logistically challenging next-day delivery and repositioned their brand around the concept of "Dinner Peace." Slick TV ads, created by the agency Mother, position them as a stress-free alternative to supermarket shopping.
It seems to be working. Gousto delivered 80 million servings in 2025, and their latest results suggest the business is moving back into meaningful growth. Revenue rose 10% year-on-year to £342m in FY25.
Crucially, that growth is clearly coming from Gousto broadening its appeal beyond traditional recipe kits. As more time at the office means less time to cook, sales of its convenience ranges rose 23% year-on-year, with products including One Pan Wonders and 10 Minute Meals benefiting from consumers’ appetite for quicker dinners.
Anna Greene, Gousto’s VP Marketing, underlines that point. Greene says. “We’re not just thinking about other meal kits, we’re thinking about all the different ways people solve dinner every night. If we can make that choice quicker and easier, without compromising on what really matters – quality, taste, and great value – then we can really earn a place one people's dinner tables.”
So, fresh got faster. And now, Gousto are taking on Tesco. Or, as a post-Pandemic Dolly might sing, “Every night them meal-kits done won that dinner fight...”