How to Start a Meal Prep Business in 2024

Quick Summary: Are you all set to turn your passion for food into a profession? Starting a meal prep business is an excellent choice, though it’s different from the restaurant and other food and beverages businesses. You need a little focus and explore how to start a meal prep business in 2024. So, we have given important details and steps to start your own business with minimal upfront costs.

We received plenty of questions from our readers and clients asking for food delivery business ideas that require fewer upfront costs. So we have confidently suggested them start a meal prep business…! Yes, this business has huge potential today and for years to come.

To prove my points, I have gathered some that are pretty interesting to know. First, according to Statista, the revenue from the meal prep business, aka meal kit delivery business, was 2.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2017.

But, it is expected to grow to 17.9bn USD in 2022 and will exceed around 64.4 billion U.S. dollars by 2030.

What is Meal Prep Delivery Business?

A meal prep business or meal kit delivery business is a convenient way to offer affordable, simple yet healthy food to clients in the comfort of their own homes. The meal prep services allow customers to choose from an assortment of healthy and wholesome food options.

This ready-to-eat food solution is a game changer for people who have busy schedules as they can be consumed after heating up in the microwave for just a few minutes.

The online meal kit delivery business is designed to provide hassle-free home-cooked food while eliminating meal planning and grocery shopping.

How to Start a Meal Prep Business in Simple Steps

It becomes challenging for business owners to choose the best solutions when starting a new venture in a constantly changing world. Furthermore, validating the pre-launch actions is equally difficult because of the abundance of variables, including supply chain configuration, delivery procedure choice, and funding possibilities.

Therefore, we have suggested the steps that are applicable to all food delivery businesses in order to start and accelerate business launches and streamline the startup process for entrepreneurs.

#1: Sketch Out Plan and Meal Prep Strategies

You have a long road to cross. For example, you need to draw an outline on a piece of paper. You must also plan your food preparation methods, albeit we have already covered marketing techniques in the paragraph below. The following are some suggestions you can use to create the finest strategies:

• Recognize your customers
• Address their concerns

You will have this area to mention in your business plan. As a result, knowing your customers’ pain areas makes your job easier. Furthermore, you need to behave in accordance with your marketing strategies, whichever you create.

#2: Decode Menu: Choose Your Meal Prep Delivery Business Niche or Concept?

What are you going to make? Take this seriously as it will decide if you are going to make your meal kit delivery business a highest-grossing business. You need to create a recipe or a line of dinners, lunches, or to-go items. Deciding the menu will also help you with your online food ordering system. You can easily create a menu for your consumers’ convenience and help them choose suitable cuisines as per their dietary choices. Then you have a few other things to decide; let’s understand them one by one.

#3: Meal Prep Delivery Business: Types of Cuisines

Whatever it is that you want to prepare, jot it down on a piece of paper and figure out —what’s your focus. For example, figure out if you are going to provide;

• Gluten-free
• Low carb
• Low sugar
• Diabetic food

In short, what precisely is going to be your meal kit delivery business?

#4: Dietary Restriction for Meal Kit Business

Millions of people have shifted eating habits in some way, whether it is due to allergies, lifestyle changes, or using different weight loss techniques. Catering to individual demands is a wise business decision, so you always have to accept a possible consumer in order to target all people and groups truly.

#5: Choose Your Target Market and Audience

Consider who might profit from your meal kit delivery service with all your concept ideas. Make sure to keep this person in mind while planning meals for busy families with children, those who wish to learn to cook, or those with no interest in cooking. Families or busy people who don’t have time to make fancy suppers and look for pre-cooked food that can be eaten just after heating the meal can be your potential buyers.

Finding your specialty is crucial when selecting a meal kit delivery plan. Small businesses and corporations provide meal kit subscriptions or fully prepared dishes delivered right to a customer’s door. In order to differentiate yourself from the competition, consider your specialization while considering the three elements mentioned above.

Are all your fruits and veggies kept from being thrown out because they don’t meet the requirements for being stocked in supermarkets? Does the meat in your recipes come from a particular game that most people don’t eat regularly or know how to prepare? One of your primary marketing points can be whatever your niche is.

#6: Create Meal Prep Delivery Business Plan

Whether it is your home-running business or you want to start a meal kit delivery business from a commercial kitchen, a solid and proven business plan must be written. It will help you in many ways;

• Visualize your business vision
• Get funding, if needed
• You can create a sales forecast
• Stay organized with your goals
• Map out the correct location or where to begin your business

The restaurant business plan contains plenty of components that need to be seriously addressed. You can hire a professional to help you create the one, or you can simply explore how to write a restaurant business plan online. However, let us give you the core components of a business plan; they include;

#7: Think About Funds

Financial planning involves preparing the gross margin of your meal prep business so that you can create all expenses. You can take the help of an expert to help you do it, or if you are starting small, you can estimate using the formula;

Total Sales – Cost of Meal Prep Orders = Gross Margin

You may not need to invest more into this business, and with a little marketing effort, you can even expand your business online by increasing sales. We have already discussed how to improve restaurant sales, and the tips are also applicable to online meal prep business.

#8: Incorporate your Business

You need to incorporate yourself as a business. That means not doing this as a hobby or a side business. Suppose you have been doing this so far and handing it to your friends or giving it out to family and friends. But, when you start doing this as a business, you carry a lot of liability. So, you need to separate yourself as an entity to divert that liability from your personal assets. LLC is preferred in this case.

#9: Give it a Proper Name

When we talk about incorporating your business, it begins with giving a proper name to your business. For example, think of the right name for your meal kit delivery business. Then, take ideas from your competitors, explore online, or use brand names aggregator tools to come up with excellent names.

#10: Get your Meal Kit Delivery Business Registered

Once you have finalized the name, you need to register it and obtain a license. Registering your meal prep business will ensure you have all the legal protection and validate your business in the region. Most importantly, if you need funding for your business, you need to go to your investors with legal documents, and it will help you in that process.

#11: Insurance

When you have insurance, LLC will protect you. Insurance for your food production will give you even more protection. If anything happens with your business, for example, if someone gets sick, your insurance policy will play its role. Connect with an insurance service provider and get it insured.

#12: Shipping

How do you want to ship the meal kit to your customers? You want to have your own system or want to connect with third-party vendors who will deliver the meal kit to your consumers on your behalf.

#13: Technology and Software

You need a medium to connect with your consumers and allow consumers to communicate with you. Here are a few things you can do;

Build a Website and an App

If you want to expand your Meal prep delivery business online, a website and food delivery app (if you don’t want to go with third-party vendors) are your backbone. It will allow customers to connect with you, explore your products and place an order online. You may also need an online food ordering solution to help you manage your process, ordering, and delivery.

Besides, you can integrate a custom or off-the-shelf online food ordering system that will streamline the process. For example, it can help you get orders online and deliver the food to your customers using a third-party vendor or your own food delivery app. With the SaaS-based solution, you get various options to provide a convenient way to place an order online. You create a menu online, and your buyers will explore the menu and place the order in the comfort of their homes.

Must Know: How Much Does it Cost to create Food Delivery App

#14: Select A Sales Strategy For Your Meal Prep Business

As previously noted, you have choices when it comes to the kind of meal prep service you can launch. That implies that you can also decide how to market your dishes. For example, you might have visions of a vast enterprise delivering food directly to needy homes.

However, if managing numerous industrial kitchens and fulfillment facilities is not your thing, you may prefer to establish a local storefront where clients may pick up meals. Even sell meal packages at the weekly farmers market in your neighborhood. You may also buid a fantastic food delivery business website to promote your food services by creating solid digital marketing strategies. Significantly, this is also important if you want to start a meal prep business from home without spending money on a storefront.

Meal Prep Delivery Business: Viable Business Models

Have you thought about the business model? Starting a meal prep business is easy; initially, you might not put much pressure upon deciding the business models. They are no different from the cloud kitchen business model, though it differs in terms of food types and quality. You can start the way it appears reasonable to you. However, when you wish to take your business to the mass level, you need to come up with business models. They can be;

• Subscription Based Business Model
• Health Goal-Oriented Business Model
• Pre-Cooked and Storable Meal Kit Business Model

Subscription Based Business Model

You have heard HelloFresh and Freshly. These two meal kit delivery providers follow this business model. Let’s understand their business flow;

Business Flow

• They have website
• Customers visit the meal prep website, explore meals and recipes
• Add their desired meal to the cart
• They can also select the options, such as what food with what frequency to
• delivered to them
• Or, they simply choose the meal kit plan provided by the service provider
• They subscribe to those plans and make payment
• The meal prep business delivers the meal

Health Goal-Oriented Business Model

This meal kit delivery business model is popular with Magic Kitchen and Fresh n Lean. They are primarily for people with special diets and health goals. They need home-cooked food, and such a service can fulfill their needs. Goal-oriented meals can be many, such as;

• Low carb meal
• Low sugar meal/s
• Diabetic food

Business Flow

• Customers visit the meal kit delivery website
• Select the meal based on health goals and diets
• Add them to the cart and make payments
• Now, the service providers prepare the meal as desired by consumers
• Delivers the meal to consumers

Pre-Cooked and Storable Meal Kit Business Model

Widely popular among Healthy Choice and Smart Ones, pre-cooked and storable meals are favored by extensively occupied people. They are the ones who do not even have time to prepare even semi-cooked food. Or the food containing raw ingredients, as mentioned in the two business models above. They can be students, working professionals, and others.

Business Flow

• Consumers visit the meal prep delivery website
• Choose the pre-cooked food with their quantity
• Add the meals to the cart and make payments
• Meal prep business owners deliver the food to consumers

Ready To Eat Meal Delivery Business website is different from other grocery delivery websites, and you need to offer meal options that can be stored for a week or more. For example;

• Rice and noodles
• Frozen pizzas
• Porridge
• Condensed soup
• Mashed potatoes

You can begin with the three top business models for Meal Prep Delivery Business. Then, if you find it challenging to think of suitable business models, you can connect with market researchers or business analysts who know the market. Or, you can have your team who can help you decide on the business models.

Final Thoughts

We have explored and jotted down the best guide to start your meal prep business. You can find plenty of suggestions online, though we have given the comprehensive one, so you do not have to roam across pages to find a different guide. You can connect with us if you need a free consultation meal prep business or if you want to integrate an online food delivery system into your existing one.

Frequently Asked Questions about Meal Prep Business

Is meal prep a good business?

Of course, it is. However, a business can be good or bad, depending on your area of interest. For example, this business is good for you if you are a food lover and want to serve people. On the other hand, you are on the right track if you are a chef and know how to run a meal kit delivery business.

How much should I charge for meal prepping?

You need to plan your finance. For example, we have already discussed in this article that you need to calculate your gross margin and decide how much you should charge /meal.

You can refer to this article again or estimate using the formula;

Gross margin = Total Sales -Cost of Preparing Meal Prep

How much does a meal prep business make?

Plenty of factors play a crucial role in deciding how much you earn from a meal prep business. You have heard the 7Ps, that includes;

The 7Ps are the best option to create a go-to-market strategy.

Product: The product you want to sell.
Price: The cost you charge from consumers.
Place: The area, the region, and the locality you choose to serve.
Promotion: The way you promote your meal prep business.
People: The target consumer, audience, and market you choose for your meal prep business.
Process: How smooth the process is in terms of customer and food delivery service.
Physical Evidence: You need to have physical evidence to prove that you successfully conducted operations. It will help you source funds and obtain licenses, permits, and others.

When you are focused on the 7ps given above, you will make 15-35% in your first year or two.

How much does it cost to start a meal prep company?

Depending on how you want to launch your meal prep business, the cost to do so will vary. For example, the cost to launch a meal kit delivery business would be lower if it were restricted to a specific area. However, if you have a broader perspective and dream of a national empire, starting a meal prep business requires a good investment.