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The twelve year boom within the meal prep business is done. Locally, several locations recently announced their closings including SuperSuppers in East Hanover, NJ and Annie's Kitchen in Westfield. However, the next generation of home meal services combining new small business ideas and traditional quality and value is evolving as trends in the industry mandate rapid change.
DinnerSmith.com in Maplewood, NJ is a business that is quickly rising to new levels of success. The owners of the business, Fran Valle Sharon Grey and Mary Mead Smith believe that part of their success is the fact that the business is privately owned which allows them a great deal of space where creativity is concerned.
An area that is very popular today and to which food businesses have had to respond is the demand for organic foods and ingredients. Many customers are seeking foods that are completely free of any synthetic or chemical involvement in their production. The people seeking small business ideas have to be aware of the personal desires of the customers.
Lynne Mahoney, a busy registered nurse and mother of three says, "I will continue to buy from DinnerSmith and I recommend them highly to anyone with a busy lifestyle or anyone who is just plain tired of cooking 7 nights a week."
There is another rapidly growing trend in the meal prep industry having to do with helping people with food allergies and sensitivities. You see grocery stores cashing in to this and they now line their shelves with "gluten-free" tags designating safe foods for those with celiac disease or gluten intolerance.
DinnerSmith.com offers many different meals that are prepared with the person who follows a strict allergy diet in mind. All of ingredients used in their recipes and products are listed so that the customer will know exactly what is contained in each item.
Something that is very important in small business ideas is attention to small niches in the market. One such area that demands attention is the population segment of single working people.
For the person who is single, the food items they seek and enjoy are just as important to them as anyone else and they want to be considered in that way. The items that are available to a family should be packaged in a way that make them available to single people as well.
"DinnerSmith.com is one of the few home meal services that offer a single portion size to serve one person in addition to our three and six potion sizes that serve larger families," responds Valle to this need.
It is because of the inability of many food preparation businesses to keep up with the specialized demands of the population that they have had to close. The market will not wait long for a business to respond to needs.
Not so in the happy hamlet of Maplewood, NJ where owners, Mary, Fran and Sharon grow their fledgling business DinnerSmith on the faith that through their service they can help make food a tremendous source of joy and good health for their friends and neighbors. [I:http://www.100stips.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/FranValle0.jpg]