Amazon is making a strong play for the food and grocery business. Amazon has taken several steps recently to compete with giants like Walmart for the nations grocery business, including a $13 billion acquisition of Whole Foods and launching its meal-prep box line. Now, Amazon is looking to the military for an edge.
According to a report by CNBC, Amazon is looking at a technology that the military uses to prepare, store, and ship food. The online shopping giant hopes the technology will allow it to prepare and sell tasty meals that do not require refrigeration.
The technology, known as MATS, is a development by the Washington State University. The entire purpose of the technology was to provide a meal system for the military that does not require refrigeration, has adequate calories and can be efficiently stored and shipped.
MATS stands for microwave assisted thermal sterilization. The process takes sealed fool packages and places them in sterilized water and then heats the packages using microwaves. This process supposedly does a better job of retaining the texture and flavor of sterilized foods.
Amazon wants a piece of the frozen and prepared food market. The global frozen food market is worth approximately $250 billion, and a third of that accounts for ready-to-eat meals. If Amazon can perfect the use of MATS for meals, it will have a whole new way of attacking the market.
According to the report, Amazon will debut the new service next year if the technology gets FDA approval.
