What Is SKU Expansion —and How Does It Work?

At CookUnity, we’re always looking for new ways to delight customers—and help you grow your presence on the platform.

That’s where SKU Expansion comes in.

The goal? To offer customers more variety beyond just lunch and dinner. Think breakfast, snacks, desserts—even kids’ meals. All in one place.

By expanding your offerings, you can help increase purchase frequency, grow basket size, and build stronger customer loyalty. If you've noticed items like pancakes or yogurt on the menu, that’s SKU Expansion in action.

📦 What Is SKU Expansion?

SKU Expansion is the strategic growth of our product catalog. Instead of focusing only on core lunch and dinner meals, SKU Expansion introduces new formats tailored to different occasions throughout the day.

The current product lines include:

• Breakfast – Chef-crafted morning options designed for convenience, energy, and bold flavor to start the day strong.
• Snacks – Elevated, ready-to-enjoy bites that reflect each chef’s creativity in smaller, shareable formats.
• Desserts – Indulgent, restaurant-quality sweets created to complement meals or stand alone as a treat.
• Sides – Versatile, flavor-forward additions that pair seamlessly with entrées or can be enjoyed on their own.
• Kids Meals – Balanced, kid-friendly dishes made with the same chef-driven quality in approachable flavors and portions.
• Protein Only – Clean, high-quality chef-prepared proteins designed for flexibility, customization, and performance-focused meals.
• Drinks – Curated beverages that complement our meals and extend the chef-crafted experience beyond food.

All of these categories offer add-ons, and two of them—Breakfast and Protein Only—also include in-subscription meals.

🍽️What's The Difference Between In-Subscription Meals And Add-Ons?

Every SKU Expansion product is classified into one of two formats:

✅ In-Subscription Meals

• Included as part of the user’s subscription plan (though some may have an extra fee)
• Designed to be full meals, aligned with our standards for portion, nutrition, and user expectations
• Occupy a meal slot in the user’s weekly plan
• Available only in the Breakfast and Protein Only lines

Examples:
Grilled Salmon (Protein Only)
Quiche (Breakfast)
Chicken Tenders (Protein Only)
 

➕ Add-Ons

• Purchased separately and charged outside the subscription
• Do not occupy a meal slot
• Flexible, snackable, or smaller format items
• Present in every SKU Expansion category

Examples:
Cookies, Cake Jars (Desserts)
Chia Pudding, Overnight Oats (Breakfast)
Greek Salad (Side)

🔍 Quick Visual Summary

📈 Why Does This Matter for Chefs?

SKU Expansion is not just a catalog update—it’s a way to grow your impact on the platform.

For chefs with strong operational capacity, healthy store metrics and at least 6 months in the platform, it offers:

• Incremental sales—add-ons are not bound by the subscription meal slots
• Increased earnings—more products = more revenue
• Broader visibility—by covering new moments of consumption throughout the day
   

➕ Why Do Add-Ons Drive Incremental Revenue?

Add-ons represent a unique revenue opportunity for chefs because they operate independently from the subscription slot system.

While in-subscription meals require dedicated slots within the weekly plan, add-ons do not consume any of these slots. Instead, they are purchased separately by the user and scheduled through a different mechanism. This means that chefs can develop and sell add-ons in parallel to their existing in-plan meals, without impacting their slot allocation or displacing current dishes.

In short: every add-on sold contributes additional revenue, without taking up space in the chef’s in-subscription lineup.

This makes add-ons a powerful lever for increasing total sales and diversifying the chef’s portfolio.
 

🚀 Final Takeaway

SKU Expansion opens the door to broader creativity, new formats, and more chances to delight users beyond lunch and dinner. Even if you’re not creating these items yet, understanding how they work helps you think ahead and prepare for future opportunities.

When the time is right, these formats could help you grow your portfolio—and your revenue—one dessert, side, or kids’ meal at a time.

If you have any questions or feedback, reach out to [e-mail].