After three years in business, Warren-based meal-prep and -delivery company Feast & Fettle Inc. has big plans – starting with breaking a stereotype.
“When you hear delivery, there’s an association with lower quality and we’re trying to change that,” said co-founder and CEO Carlos Ventura.
Salads with homemade dressing, chickpea and spinach stew, red-meat options and a Peruvian stir fry known as lomo saltado, he explained, are among the rotating menu options available for preorder.
Where delivery companies “start to run into trouble,” said Ventura, is combining various elements of hot foods for a soggy result. For example, he added, “For July 4 we had a salmon burger and the bun was packaged separately.”
And the company is betting on its model. On Aug. 3, it launched an online crowdfunded appeal for equity through Microventures, an online crowdfunding site, with a goal of raising $250,000 in 60 days.
The funds, explained Ventura, will help offset the cost of renovating a 2,600-square-foot commercial kitchen in East Providence, allowing Feast & Fettle to move out of Warren-based food startup incubator Hope & Main.
As of Sept. 17, the firm had raised $51,760 from 100 investors.
While he admits none of the three founders has equity crowdfunding experience, Ventura said the company was on the cusp of growth but “didn’t want to give away too much ownership and control.”
He feels the decision was a smart one, adding: “Crowdfunding is a good mechanism if you’re using it for a specific purpose and our purpose is to build out this commercial kitchen.”
At its launch, Feast & Fettle was reliant on Hope & Main’s services and continues to operate there.
However, with a planned move-in date of Oct. 1, the company is eagerly awaiting the move.
As of April, Feast & Fettle delivers throughout Rhode Island.
Accessibility is no problem for the company, said Ventura, as customers can place orders on the Feast & Fettle website, by phone, tablet or on a desktop. Plans start at $99 per week, two meals per week serving one; rise to $149 per week, three meals per week that serve two; and top out at $189 per week, four meals per week that serve four. The cutoff for next-week delivery is Thursday, with packages arriving on Mondays and Wednesdays.
One focus Ventura has prioritized since joining at the beginning of the year is business-to-business relationships. As of February, the company has partnered with Seven Stars Bakery LLC, out of Providence, featuring its bread on the Feast & Fettle menu each week.
The inclusion, said Ventura, “has been a big hit.”
Once Feast & Fettle is settled into its new kitchen, Ventura says the next move is to expand delivery. He envisions Feast & Fettle reaching customers in Swansea, Rehoboth, Attleboro and doing “extremely well” in neighborhoods outside of Boston.
OWNERS: Carlos Ventura, Maggie R. Mulvena, Nicole Oliveira
TYPE OF BUSINESS: Meal prep and delivery
LOCATION: 881 Waterman Ave., East Providence (beginning Oct. 1)
EMPLOYEES: 10
YEAR ESTABLISHED: 2015
ANNUAL SALES: $230,926 (2017)
Emily Gowdey-Backus is a staff writer for PBN. You can follow her on Twitter @FlashGowdey or contact her via email, Gowdey-backus@PBN.com.