When meal-kit services like Blue Apron and Plated started popping up a few years ago, the idea was almost too good to be true: Week after week and with a few clicks of a mouse, all the ingredients you needed to cook a quality dinner at home could be delivered right to your doorstep. As customers caught on, so did other businesses, and today there are countless options.
On a local level, businesses are taking the trend a step further. Several companies sell meals that are already assembled—all you have to do is pay, heat and eat. “Our meals are ready to pop in the microwave or oven so our customers can enjoy time spent with their families and avoid the drive-thru or hours in the kitchen,” says Monica Wingert of Meals by Monica, who started her meal delivery service in 2007. D.J. Vokolek, operations manager at Eat Fit Go Healthy Foods in Springfield, says when Eat Fit Go opened a location here in December 2016, it had a similar goal in mind. “We wanted an alternative for people who are looking to change the way they eat but have to do it in a quick fashion,” he says.
Denise LeBolt joined in on the trend in 2013 when she started her meal-service company called Homemade. Delivered., and Springfield’s Hörrmann Meats jumped on board in January 2017 when it started offering lunch and dinner meal options that are Whole30 Diet and Paleo Diet compliant and feature many locally sourced ingredients.
