Kyle Ransford wanted to cook gourmet meals, but didn’t have time to shop for them
Part of being a visionary is recognizing when all the parts for something have been invented, but nobody has put them together. The moment of inspiration may arrive as part of an organized search for a new opportunity, but is just as likely to happen when you look for something you need and discover it doesn’t exist. That happened to Kyle Ransford of My Food Subscriptions when he was idly thumbing through a magazine.
“One Saturday afternoon I was looking at a beautiful recipe in Bon Appétit and thought, I might make that for dinner tonight. I looked at the ingredient list and started calculating, ‘OK, I could go to an Asian market for this, and Whole Foods for that one, Quality Seafood for this item.’
“It was going to take four hours of my Saturday before I even started cooking, so like most people I said, ‘Those are beautiful pictures, but I’m going to turn the page.’ Then I wondered, where’s the button that says ‘Send me all the ingredients so I can cook this?’
At first I figured that this has to have been done already by somebody, but it hadn’t. So that’s essentially what we’ve done, created the first business shipping fresh food to the consumer on a national basis. You aren’t restricted by what your local store carries anymore.”
In March, Ransford launched Chef’d in a 40,000 square-foot facility in El Segundo. Chef’d operates in a way that mirrors Ransford’s inspiration – you look on their website and browse recipes. When you see one you like you click a button and pay for it. Your food will be delivered the next day, the fresh produce kept cool but not frozen by cold packs. You can grab a knife, cutting board, and some saucepans and start preparing a meal within minutes of opening the box. You can visit Wetheknives if you’re looking to buy a new set of knives
There are over a 100 recipes on the site with more being added each week. They are rated by spiciness and complexity of the cooking. You can select by lifestyle – family-friendly, gourmet, vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options — and you can sort by multiple options while selecting your favorite protein. The recipes are varied and come from many sources, which actually wasn’t Ransford’s original idea.
“My first idea was to just use my own recipes, because I know some good ones. Then we talked about it for a while and decided that we’d rather partner with chefs and other branded partners who already have a food conversation going on with a highly engaged consumer base. They can say, ‘Hey, you’ve seen my food and my recipes and now you can order online and Chef’d will send you all the ingredients.’ We are not just building our own brand, we’re doing it along with the brands of our partners. Those include Men’s Health. We want to have something for anyone.”
One market for Chef’d is people who live in areas without a variety of fresh food. If you live in small town near Barstow or an urban food desert, you may not be able to get fresh fish and exotic vegetables at any price. Ransford says that Chef’d boxes are selling in many types of neighborhoods.
“Some people are using our service to make something they wouldn’t normally be able to make, and this is stretching their skills. Others are people who might run around to different stores on the weekend for a big meal, but on Tuesday night they want to make good food without going to four stores. Our consumer base includes some accomplished people who are using us as a shopping service and others who are developing their skills. Most of our customers are in the one to three times a week category, but we have some who are ordering five days a week.”
“I get questions from people who don’t understand what we’re doing. They start by asking if they can reheat our meals in the microwave. I tell them that there are a lot of readymade things out there, but that’s not what we do.”
Ransford calls himself a serial entrepreneur. But the move to a culinary business has been a big change after a career in finance, banking, and real estate. The father of two young boys is an accomplished amateur cook, and waxes poetic about the joys of cooking and dining at home.
“Our mission statement is to cultivate and curate experiences of love through food. We regard ourselves as not just delivering groceries, we’re trying to make it so you dine with your loved ones at home a little more often. We’re making it possible for people to build skills and confidence, and build a sense of family. We call it the magical bite – when you serve something you made to someone and they say, this is amazing. That makes it all worth it.”
Ransford seemed caught off guard by one question – if chefs are artists, is preparing a Chef’d meal like painting by numbers? The usually quick entrepreneur thought a moment before answering.
“I think that’s right. They’re recreating it. They’re going through the exact steps that a professional went through the day they created that recipe and getting the same result. We expect that as people get more confident they’ll adjust the seasonings to their taste, that’s what a chef does. We try to make you a hero in the kitchen, regardless of your level of training.”
“We’re creating a series of short videos to show how to do various kitchen tasks. Then, when you purchase a given box we can send a link to all the videos that are relevant to that recipe. Those techniques are all on the internet, of course, but this will make it so you don’t waste time looking for them. If you’re in the middle of cooking and need to check something, you can use this as a safety net.”
Chef’d is shipping over a thousand boxes per week, each with ingredients for a meal for two to four people, along with an easily followed recipe. They have shipped to towns in Maine, where a ripe mango or chayote is a rare sight, and a new distribution center is being set up in Philadelphia to speed service to East Coast customers. It’s a remarkable success for a business that started with an idle moment leafing through a magazine, proof that inspiration can come from any experience.
For information on meals available from Chef’d, go to chefd.com .
Kyle Ransford (right) with coworker Jesse Langley. Photo
Cooking outside the orange box
When I decided to try a Chef’d meal, my inclination was to try the most difficult and complicated menu they offer to see how much it would stretch my skills. I decided instead to try a typical, entry level recipe to get an idea of what most users experience the first time.
I chose halibut with chayote squash, bacon, corn, and shiitake mushrooms, and opened the box with great curiosity. Almost everything was pre-portioned. The only exceptions were the chives and cilantro, of which I had some leftovers. Everything I needed was in the box except for olive oil, pepper, and salt — items that can be found in any kitchen. Even the two pats of butter that were called for were included.
The recipe was a model of clarity, with pictures of each step to illustrate what size ingredients should be cut to and how they should look when done. The corn had to be removed from the cob and cooked with bacon and mushrooms, the fish roasted in the oven and then the chayote sautéed separately before combining them all at the last minute and garnishing with sauce, cilantro, and chives. It was a complex recipe, but as advertised, could be made with just two sauté pans, one cooking sheet, one spatula, and a cutting board and knife. The preparation and cooking time was estimated to be 25 minutes, which was almost precisely accurate. It even looked like the illustration when I plated it, despite the fact that I didn’t have a professional studio and food stylist.
And the experience of eating it? It was an enjoyable flavor combination that I hadn’t had before, and though it was advertised as a portion for two there was enough for three when I added a modest side salad. Cleanup was easy, there was no food waste, and having made it once I could probably do it again with my own ingredients. I learned a little something and had a very good dinner at home with my family, which was just what Ransford intended.
