Healthy Deliveries

As a mother of three, Jennifer Piette tries to be cognizant of every food ingredient her kids ingest and encourages them to choose local organic foods like tomatoes, squash and berries. Of course, she’s far from alone, which has been a boon to her business: Out of the Box Collective, an organic, web-based food service she operates from her Calabasas home and a Chatsworth warehouse. Each week, Piette orchestrates deliveries of meal boxes filled to the brim with fresh produce, meats, cheeses and juices to about 50 to 60 homes throughout the San Fernando Valley and beyond. The business, founded in 2011, draws from local farmers, ranchers, artisans and vintners at a time when eating healthy and supporting local growers is a high priority. “When I first started, I was one of the first in the country aggregating from all food groups,” Piette said. “Now, three years later, you see a lot of similar ideas popping up. The more the merrier.” Health consciousness and concern by affluent parents for their children’s well-being allows her to charge as much as $75 for an Essential Couples Box with two meals for two people or $220 for a Classic Family Box with five meals for four. There’s also an added convenience factor for customers who can’t make it to the farmer’s markets in Calabasas, Santa Monica and Santa Barbara, where Piette buys at a discounted restaurant rate. Piette is finally looking to make a profit this year, but it’s been challenging with similar companies coming on the scene. At least a dozen companies, including Good Life Organics of Tarzana, SavRaw of Topanga and Abundance Harvest Organics of Simi Valley have set up shop locally. Not only are consumers getting more comfortable with ordering all sorts of products for home delivery online, but consumer demand for organic food is not letting up. Barbara Haumann, senior editor and writer with the Organic Trade Association in Brattleboro, Vt. said that last year, 81 percent of parents said they were buying organic “at least sometimes.” That’s up from 2009 when 73 percent made that same statement, according to an annual survey by the group. “It’s a movement, and it’s one that is going to stay,” she said. “A place like California would definitely be a leader in this movement.” Local connection Piette lived in Europe working as a screenwriter and film producer before moving back and settling in Los Angeles in 2007. But while overseas, she observed that people seemed to have a deeper connection to their locally grown foods. That inspired her to start her business, which got off the ground four years later with $11,000 in personal savings. She used the money to buy a delivery van and build her website. After starting off with a handful of customers and grossing $200,000 her first year, Piette decided to lease a warehouse on Lassen Street in Chatsworth for food storage and preparation. Customers are required to order the next week’s groceries online at Out of the Box’s website by Tuesday. Based on those orders, Piette and her team of eight part-time employees plan trips to the local farmer’s markets. “It’s easier to pick up from everyone at one time rather than pick up from each person separately,” she said. The later part of the week is typically spent packing the boxes. Then on the next Monday and Tuesday mornings at about 2 a.m., a handful of the staffers pick up the boxes and start the delivery route. The idea behind the “night shift” serves two purposes: to avoid traffic and to have groceries ready at customers’ doorsteps when they wake up or head off to work. A typical box might include eggs, farm butter, California cheese, fresh squeezed orange juice, a grain, a bag of nuts, regional specialties like honey or olive oil and a fair trade selection such as chocolate or quinoa. Another recent option for customers is to order through AmazonFresh, an Amazon.com service that allows for same-day or next-day delivery of products, including produce. And Out of the Box’s wine and gift offerings can be shipped nationwide. Gift sales account for only about 5 percent of revenue, but it could see a bump this year since the New York Times recognized the firm in its 2013 Holiday Gift Guide. Piette’s recent push is The Essentials boxes, which provide two meals versus four. She thinks these will be a more economic option for many shoppers. Since day one, she has inserted suggested recipes in the boxes that require the use of all the delivered ingredients. “Our biggest enemy is waste,” she said. “If they don’t get around to cooking it, they feel like they’re wasting their money and stop ordering.” Lucy Taylor of Sherman Oaks is a customer who has ordered an Essentials box fit for a week’s worth of meals for two to feed her and her son, who has autism. As a nutritionist with her own online business dedicated to parents of special needs children, Your Vibrant Health Coach, Taylor values healthy eating and cooking. “People with autism aren’t able to detox as much as most of us do, so it’s important that he is getting the best foods,” she said. Taylor recently used a recipe to cook chicken with preserved lemons, kale, chili flakes, garlic cloves and coconut oil. She said she makes recipes from the Couples box often, and she always has leftovers that last her almost the entire week. Out of the Box so far has largely grown by word of mouth and social media sites Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest. Piette intends to make a marketing push. She is in talks with consultants for rolling out advertising as well as a graphic designer to redesign her website. Last year, sales hit $350,000, and this year she expects to top $450,000 in revenue – likely springing her into profitable territory. But she admits the business has been a struggle. “We’ve been bootstrapping it,” she said. Still, she hopes to eventually deliver from San Diego to Santa Barbara, where she already travels to buy produce. “This all started out with a handful of customers that I could deliver to from my car,” she said. “It’s honestly been a painful few years, but we’re getting close.”