Meal kits from the New York Times

The research firm Technomic found humans spent $1.5 billion on subscription meal kits in 2015. And researchers expected the United States alone to buy more than $6 billion on ingredient bundles, like the ones assembled by Blue Apron, in the year 2020.

"The Blue Aprons and Plateds of the world have done a fantastic job pioneering this space," Chef'd CEO Kyle Ransford said. "Chef'd has innovated this space in the manner that you can order just one, you can order a la cart, you don't have to sign up for a subscription."

Ransford founded his company two years ago with the goal of forming partnerships with existing brands and bringing their recipes and the ingredients those recipes require to consumers.

On Thursday, we learned Chef'd had partnered with the New York Times.

"If you're going to get steak and lobster, it's a little more than a salad. We try to price everything based on what the ingredients are," Ransford said.

At some point this summer, one will be able to scroll through the New York Times Cooking app or the newspaper's website, select a recipe, and order all of the ingredients to one's home.

"Interestingly, if you went to the store to buy all the recipes, all those ingredients, usually you're going to pay about 150 to 200 percent more and you'd have some leftover stuff," Ransford said.

Like HelloFresh or Blue Apron, Chef'd seeks to avoid food waste by delivering exactly what you need in the quantities that you need it. A Chef'd-New York Times meal for two costs somewhere between $19 and $40.