Today we’d like to introduce you to Adam Friden.
Adam, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
In 2010 I ran a pilot program out of my home kitchen. I fed 12 people for free (breakfast, lunch and dinner) for a week in exchange for them completing a survey. The last question on the survey was “Would you pay us for this service next week”, we received a unanimous 12/12 YES WE WOULD! From there, everyone’s friends’, neighbors and relatives were calling to sign up and we outgrew the home kitchen in 45 days. We then sublet a kitchen in DT Hollywood FL and outgrew that kitchen in 90 days. I then took every dollar I had ever saved and built our own kitchen. 4 years later we outgrew that 5,000 sq. /ft. kitchen and in 2015 we bought a grocery store, gutted the building and built a 33,000 sq. /ft. state of the art production kitchen that serves as our national headquarters. What was once one guy in a kitchen testing what most thought was a “crazy idea” is now a company with almost 200 employees, kitchens in California and Florida and we currently deliver over 35,000 meals per week and gross well over a million dollars in sales each month (and climbing). We expanded into LA 1/1/2017 and the response has been overwhelming. We are the only company in America that delivers freshly prepared meals DAILY (we cook today and deliver to your doorstep tonight for tomorrow’s consumption) After 90 days in LA we are already delivering well over 4,000 meals per week and are creating an average of 5 new jobs per month in our California kitchen/offices.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
No great accomplishment ever comes to fruition without struggle, Catered Fit was no different. Our growth, from go, was explosive. We have been sprinting for 7 years to keep up with the growth of our brand. Along the way we have overcome many obstacles:
-our first commercial kitchen was almost burnt down by an arsonist
-we were then illegally evicted from the kitchen we saved from arson
-during construction of our headquarters we exceeded the allowable capacity in our previous kitchen and had to rework our production schedule and create a 24 hour shift that ran 7 days per week in order to avoid the fire marshal shutting down the entire operation or being forced to lay off needed/loved staff because we over occupied the building.
Please tell us about Catered Fit.
We are a healthy meal delivery service that cooks fresh and delivers DAILY. We have multiple menus to choose from (Classic, Paleo, Pescatarian, Vegetarian and Vegan) and offer our plans in 5 or 20 day packages. Our members select the meal plan that best suits their specific needs, they exclude any items they do not like or are allergic to and then can log into their customer app and select from 27 different meal options per day. We also offer a full line of desserts, Gluten Free desserts, snacks, Organic Cold-Pressed Juices and Organic Cold Pressed Coffees. What sets us apart from the rest is first and foremost, we are the only national service that delivers fresh food directly to your doorstep DAILY! We also have proprietary software that allows our members to select every single meal from the comfort of their smart phone. In less than 3 minutes someone can create their account online, select their meal plan, exclude items they do not like or are allergic to and then can select their individual meals and will then have a driver at their doorstep within 2 business days.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I would have tried my hardest not to mix family and friends with business. I come from a poor family and grew up in a part of town where success was not the norm. My “crazy idea” in 2010 made me a multi-millionaire by the time I was 30 years young. That type of meteoric success changes a lot of things, relationships in particular.
Pricing:
- Our meals are all between $8-$10 which includes the cost of daily delivery
Contact Info:
- Address: 5150 N STATE ROAD 7 Fort Lauderdale FL (National HQ)13631 Saticoy St, Van Nuys California (West Coast Kitchen)
- Website: www.cateredfit.com
- Phone: 855 400-CFIT
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @cateredfit
- Facebook: @cateredfit
- Yelp: @cateredfit
Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
