Make, Take and Bake Dinners

With customers wanting nutrition panel healthy food and dishes with ingredients they can pronounce, a new type of food business has emerged. Meal-prep outlets allow customers to assemble pre-chopped and prepared ingredients for several featured recipes, snap on the lids or zip the bags, and then rush home to the freezer. Thaw, cook, and serve when ready. Done!

Food research shows that there are now the nearly 1,200 meal-prep outlets nationwide. Dream Dinners, the originator of the concept, began in 2002 in Snohomish, Washington and now has 209 franchised units in 37 states. Since then similar companies have popped up and now the meal-prep industry is a $370-million business, expected to increase to $410 million by the end of 2009. Though they account for less than two-tenths of a percent of dinners, that may change when people become familiar with the idea.

Some locations schedule customers to come once a month to assemble their meals together, talking and sharing ideas, much like communities of women once did and probably still do in many parts of the world. Some allow more flexibility with times, but the ever-present desire for convenience means that many stores allow the customer to order online, choosing ingredients to leave out or include more of, and then swing by to pick up the containers ready for the freezer.

San Francisco Bay area Deeelish! Meals Made Easy ships many of the orders by Federal Express throughout the Bay area and into Oregon, Southern California, and even Texas and Hawaii. They’ve hired a chef to create recipes that rival restaurants and keep up with culinary trends.

Innovation in the food business abounds, and the right consultant can help you to develop ideas that can help you to start million-dollar trends.