Start Up Spotlight: Kellogg’s Meez Meals

This article was originally sourced from “Start Me Up: Jen Moore ’04,” part of Kellogg’s “Start Me Up” series, which spotlights members of the Kellogg community who are putting their entrepreneurial visions into practice.

Jen Moore, Kellogg School of Management ’04, wants to encourage people chose to cook rather than order takeout, and her company, Meez Meals, is making the process a bit simpler for those of us not named Emeril Lagasse. Founded in 2010, Meez Meals is an Evanston-based service that delivers prepped ingredients and simple recipes for making quick, tasty meals at home.
Customers choose from a weekly menu of meatless meals, such as Arugula Pesto Orecchiette, Tacos Provençal and Spinach Pancakes with Basil Corn Relish, and select the number of servings. A week after the order is placed, a cooler full of necessary ingredients is delivered to their door, pre-chopped and portioned, along with step-by-step instructions for making the dishes in 30 minutes or less. 

Moore came up with the idea for Meez Meals in 2009, while working as a brand manger for Unilever. When Meez Meals launched, it was the only company offering a DIY meal kit. Moore knew, however, that “it was only a matter of time until national companies entered the market.” 

In anticipation of the competition, Meez Meals focused on a niche market — one that customized meals for individual preferences, offered creative, nontraditional recipes, reused its delivery containers and maintained a green footprint. Moore’s instincts didn’t fail her– Meez has experienced double-digit growth in each of the past four years, and now boasts nearly 3,500 members. To date, the company has delivered more than 200,000 meals.

The company is based out of the Chicago area, delivering to a 1,000-square-mile radius and all ingredients come from local places. — the company gets its pizza dough from Bennison’s Bakery in Evanston; its gourmet tofu comes from Phoenix Bean in Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood. The company also sources ingredients from Woodland Foods in Waukegan.

While one-serving meals aren’t a great margin item for Meez, “but it was really important to me to have them because so many people living alone don’t cook,” Moore says. “When I worked at Barilla, I was in so many focus groups where I heard women say, ‘It’s just not worth it to cook for myself.’ It broke my heart. So we offer the one serving to make cooking worth it.” 

regions: Chicago

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