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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Meal Service Goes to Gym To Up Sales

With the new year comes resolutions, and Z.E.N. Foods of Sun Valley wants to help its clients keep their promises in 2017. The customizable healthy food delivery service has partnered with New York-based upscale gym Equinox Holdings Inc. to provide Z.E.N. customers who purchase a 31-day meal program free gym access for a month. “We’ve been working with Equinox since we first opened in 2010,” said Z.E.N. Co-founder and Chief Executive Mariana Rossano. “It is the most exclusive health club nationwide and we are considered the best in our category in Southern California, so we work hand in hand.” Z.E.N. – which stands for Zero Effort Nutrition – offers various organic meal plans focused on specific nutrition and health goals that are prepared and delivered daily. Programs include weight loss, healthy lifestyle, paleo, vegetarian, a family plan and even a juice cleanse. Regular meal plans start at $49.95 a day, but Z.E.N. also offers a customizable option called Z.E.N. Select, where clients choose their own daily menu items from 20 options based on their predetermined calorie count. “A lot of A-list celebrities call us when getting ready for movies,” Rossano said. Big names such as Zac Efron, Denise Richards and Jesse Tyler Ferguson have been Z.E.N. customers at one point or another. The company serves 300 to 500 clients a day. Citing the new year and summer as her most profitable months, Rossano said business is somewhat cyclical. But in response, she has made a 2017 resolution of her own to grow the company. “This year we are looking to double or triple our numbers,” she added. “If we meet our goal, then the plan is to bring in another investor and go nationwide.” Currently, Z.E.N. has an all-star group of investors and advisers, including former NFL player Marcus Allen and restaurateurs Charles Frank, who helped launch Johnny Rockets and Il Fornaio, and Bob Spivak, who co-founded the Daily Grill. Jeremiah Green, chief executive of Chicago-based food delivery app Eat Purely, said an understanding of the food and beverage industry is crucial for meal delivery success. “The delivery business is for folks who are really well versed in the execution of the food business,” he said. “Delivery costs have to be near zero or 5 percent of gross sales for the business to be sustainable.” One way Z.E.N. stays lean is to limit surplus product by only ordering what is needed day to day. “The produce and protein come in fresh every morning, and we barely have any food on hand except for dry goods,” Rossano said. “There’s almost no waste, and that right there makes it a good company structure.” – Stephanie Henkel

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