Amazon looking at cutting-edge food technology for home delivery

Amazon is considering a cutting-edge food technology for home delivery, as the online retailers continued to look at new ways to get into the $700 billion US grocery business.

Reuters reported that Amazon is looking at offering ready-to-eat dishes as soon as next year. The dishes would not require refrigeration and could be offered cheaply compared to a take-out from a restaurant.

The new technology was developed for the US military to produce prepared meals that did not need refrigeration. The technology is known as microwave-assisted thermal sterilisation (MATS), and involves placing sealed packages of food in pressurised water and heating them with microwaves for several minutes.

The dishes retain their natural flavour and texture, and have a shelf life of six months.

The technology was being brought to market by a Denver-based venture-backed startup called 915 Labs.

If MATS were to come to fruition it could prove to be a major step forward for Amazon as it looks to grab hold of more grocery customers shifting toward quick and easy meal options at home.

Meals delivery would build on the company's AmazonFresh service, which has been delivering groceries to customers' homes for a decade and additionally, it would complement Amazon's planned $13.7-billion purchase of Whole Foods Market Inc and Amazon's checkout-free convenience store, which is being trialed.