New business idea: food industry

[Guillaume C.]

Hello everyone :)

A bunch of friends and I have come up with an idea about a new business opportunity that we find appealing: delivering conveniently what we like to call "Dinner Kit".

Our "design challenge" could be something like "How to improve the culinary experience of young professionals?". The idea is that those people usually like cooking but don't have time or/and do not want to spend/waste time grocery shopping. We could then provide them with some Dinner Kit including all the necessary ingredients to cook one tasty meal for one person, whithout wasting anything! Original but easy recipes could help us to convince people to subscribe.

What do you think of such idea? Any advice? Any critics? Any help is more than welcome :)

Also, will this survey help me learn about my customers? We indeed would like to test our empathy map with it.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1XQYSWA-vpT2rt5w_TwLPR3l_6_JjjEaA7a6I8TBbJ2Y/viewform
Would you change/add anything to it?

Thank you very much for your valuable time and feedback!

Cheers,

Guillaume

[KristineS]

It's an interesting idea. The challenge would be to get everything to the customer in a fresh, tasty and safe condition. Also, how would you handle dietary restrictions or allergies or special requests?

There's a lot that would have to be worked out with this idea, including how you would be classified, and whether you'd need licenses and what not to deal with food. Would you be a carry out sort of restaurant with a delivery service, or would you simply deliver. There would also be regulations about your food prep space, I would guess.

As I said, interesting idea, but there's a lot that would have to be worked out.

[Harold Mansfield]

Here's my 2 cents.

As one who doesn't always grocery shop or cook, I'm always looking for easy/quick...actually last minute meal ideas. There are plenty of options at the local grocery for that. The problem is not so much that I need prepackaged meal ideas that I can cook quickly, the problem is that I don't feel like cooking.

When I do feel like cooking, I like to make a decent meal and going to the grocery isn't that big of a deal. It's close and I can be back in 20 minutes.

So basically, I get delivery a lot. When I get delivery, I want the food already cooked. I don't think having ingredients delivered that I still have to prepare would be very appealing because the whole appeal of delivery is that you don't have to cook and someone brings you hot food.

I think your direction and target market is good, but I'm not crazy about the over all idea. I think just a grocery delivery is a much better idea.

[Steve B]

I think it's a great idea - I wouldn't limit it just to single servings. I think it would be great for families too. The savings of gas and time and knowing that they won't FORGET an ingredient when shopping would certainly be worth a premium.

[carloborja]

I really like this idea. I think it saves time.

Also, I answered the survey. Hope that will help you out. Best of luck with the business model!

[gregcooper420]

Find out if there are any similar businesses that exist like it and see how the entire market is doing. You may need to provide them with a variety of items, you can't get easily at your local supermarket. You can go around town and find out what young professional are ordering at local restatements to get a since of the items you will need to provide. If you set this up right, you will find a niche market that will pay you big bucks to enjoy their hobby.

[junglepreneur]

Actually I do not think there is a gap in the marketplace for you to place through whilst competing with the nicely established busineses already availble there, There is no harm in providing a trial run though and seeing actualy how you do with it, just do not order bulk stock setting up a customers.

[ARMGenius]

Hello everyone :)

A bunch of friends and I have come up with an idea about a new business opportunity that we find appealing: delivering conveniently what we like to call "Dinner Kit".

Our "design challenge" could be something like "How to improve the culinary experience of young professionals?". The idea is that those people usually like cooking but don't have time or/and do not want to spend/waste time grocery shopping. We could then provide them with some Dinner Kit including all the necessary ingredients to cook one tasty meal for one person, whithout wasting anything! Original but easy recipes could help us to convince people to subscribe.

What do you think of such idea? Any advice? Any critics? Any help is more than welcome :)

Also, will this survey help me learn about my customers? We indeed would like to test our empathy map with it.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1XQYSWA-vpT2rt5w_TwLPR3l_6_JjjEaA7a6I8TBbJ2Y/viewform
Would you change/add anything to it?

Thank you very much for your valuable time and feedback!

Cheers,

Guillaume

I think you're missing a big point here: young professionals don't typically have time to cook, nor do they want to clean up the mess after.

I hope I'm not being too blunt, but I really wouldn't operate your entire business model on a "dinner kit". As a young professional (25 years of age) with multiple businesses that produce a fair amount of revenue annually, I would rather order (I actually do) something like Personal Trainer Foods (Personal Trainer Food (http://www.personaltrainerfoods.com)) or another similar offering.

I've seen a lot of businesses like the one you proposed go out of business, specifically those that prepare the meals for you, leaving the only task for you to do is heating/cooking the preparation. What I would suggest is becoming something like a general pickup service. A good example would be Metro 2 Go, a local businesses that has gained some local media attention. Their website can be found at Metro To Go, LLC (http://www.metrotogodelivery.com).

If you want McDonalds and it is lunch time and you can't leave the office, give these guys a call, they will pick it up and deliver it. If you need a gallon of milk from the grocery store, but can't leave the house, give these guys a call and they will deliver it. I think if you did pursue your dinner kit, I'd expand with these supplemental services.

[trunker]

I do know that in Plano,TX there are some chefs that do just what you are saying. They will either bring you a dinner kit or come cook in your home on whatever day and prepare 7 meals that can be frozen. It has had some success from what I here. Plano,TX is the like a "corporate city" with so many home and corporate offices here its crazy. Maybe you could link up with grub hub in some way or see if you can get a pizza delivery restaurant to attach your flyer to there boxes for a small fee (maybe a conflict of interest).

[DennisChang]

There are already plenty of microwave food for busy professionals, not to mention take-outs from restaurants and fast-foods. Maybe you can do a more thorough survey targeting the working professionals in your area.