When thinking about a dessert with a real, fresh raspberry in it that was purchased at an airport vending machine, a memory from about ten years ago will come to mind: These jars were sent to the media to promote a small local business. Selling healthy food to a country hooked to bread sandwiches was an attempt everybody thought would fail.
Farmer’s Fridge did not fail.
Farmer’s Fridge creator Luke Saunders stated, “We are now in 20 areas, from California and Texas to the Northeast, and all across the Midwest. “About 700 locations, between Fridges and retail stores, including 14 major airports.”
And this is after Saunders’ business lost 87% of its sales in March 2020 because of the COVID-19 hit.
He stated, “We’re mostly at hospitals, airports, universities, and offices. “Hospitals were the only thing we had left, and even they weren’t allowing people to go about.”
Farmer’s Fridge started a home delivery service, teamed up with merchants, and within four months, sales were 100% of what they had been before the pandemic. They anticipate that their business will triple in size by 2023.
Saunders claimed, “We were able to flourish and survive.
Drivers make up about 80 of Farmer’s Fridge’s 300 employees.
We prepare all of the food in a single location near Midway Airport using our own cold chain operations and specialized refrigerated long-haul vehicles, according to Saunders.
They are unsure of the food’s final destination as it is being prepared.
Our main innovation, according to Saunders, is that we produce a lot of food right now without knowing where it will end up. We run allocations, an algorithm that determines the network’s inventory, at dinnertime.
They last less than a week, so anyone would assume that they must be throwing out a lot of ruined salads. The waste, according to Saunders, is only in the low single digits.
Our goal is to fall below 5%, he said. Saunders said. Isn’t that excellent?