Taking On Restaurants And Grocers

Forbes:

The meal-assembly industry was born in early 2002 when Stephanie Allen and Tina Kuna opened their first Dream Dinners store in Snohomish, Wash. The concept: Customers prepare their own food in bulk using the restaurant’s kitchen, ingredients and recipes – all for less money than buying and cooking food from the grocery store. And, of course, no dirty pots and pans.

Dream Dinners, now with 208 locations in 37 states throughout the U.S. (and another 29 under construction), is the largest of these chains. But with food prices soaring, angry franchisees snapping and its financials sagging, the company – and much of the meal-assembly industry – is feeling like it’s on the chopping block.

On the surface, the value proposition sounds compelling: At Dream Dinners, busy parents who want their kids to eat right can crank out 12 meals, up to 72 servings, in less than 2 hours for just $250. The company insists (based on its own research) that preparing those same meals at home would require 18 to 20 hours of shopping and cooking and cost between $525 and $585.

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