DineWise’s prepared meals are prepared to customers’ exacting specifications.

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Modern living is hectic enough for most people, with work and family obligations taking up more of their time and today’s 24-hour society eating away at the very concept of “down time.”

Fewer people have the time to cook a balanced meal for themselves and their families, and for people with special dietary needs it’s even worse.

On top of finding a quick and easy solution to the question “What’s for dinner?” they have to find one that suits their lifestyle in a healthy and appropriate way.

DineWise Inc. can provide the answer to all of these concerns, Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Richard Gray says.

Since augmenting its business model to prepared meal delivery two years ago, DineWise has emerged as a meal solution company for thousands of customers nationwide. DineWise’s chef-prepared meals are created to exacting specifications, are made with the best ingredients and offer a degree of customization other meal replacement programs don’t, Gray says.

The company allows customers to choose meal plans that fit their households, lifestyles and budgets. The food arrives frozen at the customer’s home to be reheated in an oven or microwave. Meal plans are scalable and can be customized to include one, two or three meals a day.     

DineWise also offers meal plans designed for specific nutritional needs, such as diabetic, low-sodium and weight-loss plans.

“No matter what type of diet plan you’re on ... we definitely solve a time issue as an alternative for people having to stop on the way home for meals,” Vice President of Marketing Craig Livernoche says.

“We’re lifestyle-segmented with a high degree of customization, like our Mix-and-Match Meals program,” Gray says. 

Alongside the predetermined meal plans, customers can also create their own plans by choosing entrees, sides and vegetables from the DineWise menu. Gray says this level of customization was virtually unheard of before DineWise. “We’re the first to do it and we do it the most extensively,” he says.

“If you were to look at 25 other food companies, you would see their five beef meals, but DineWise literally allows thousands and thousands of meal combinations,” Livernoche says.  

An Easy Alternative
DineWise has made a significant impact on the prepared meals market after only three years because of its attention to quality and the control it gives its customers, Gray says.

The biggest factor in the company’s success, he explains, is how well it fits into the changing nature of the American lifestyle. He says his generation is in a position few in recent times have faced before, being sandwiched between taking care of their children as well as their parents. Burdened with the responsibility of being caregivers for two generations, most people Gray’s age find prepared meal services to be a lifesaver.

“This way, the caregiver knows their parent is getting a meal with one-third of their [recommended daily allowances], healthy and easy,” Gray says.

Since beginning its meal replacement service, the company has found its customer base becoming more diverse, Gray says. “We’re getting a lot of empty-nesters, a lot of singles, men and seniors,” he says. 

The company’s approach has also proven to be a source of relief for people suffering from diabetes and other health lifestyles because it removes the guesswork and worry out of their meal preparation. “When people get a diagnosis that they have diabetes, they don’t know how to shop, cook and prepare nutritional meals that support their new lifestyle,” Gray says.

Saying ‘Thank you’
Corporations are also recognizing the benefits DineWise can bring to their operations and employees, Gray says. For example, customer LiveNation provides $1,000 in DineWise meals whenever an employee has a baby.

Gray says this helps the employees get back on their feet faster, which ultimately helps the employer.

“The idea behind it is it’s a way for the company to say ‘Thank you’ during this difficult time of nursing a baby and raising a family,” he says. “The companies lose a lot of money to issues related to caregiving.”

Developing a Menu
With such an intense focus on the nutritional balance of its meals, it’s no surprise that DineWise takes its menu very seriously. Gray says the company works very closely with its suppliers to ensure everything it offers its customers is of the highest quality.

“We create very detailed specifications to our vendors, and we do continual spot tastings of our products on a weekly basis and we invite our customers to participate in e-mail questionnaires and online surveys to incorporate our customers' feedback in the development of our menus,” Gray says.

In fact, those questionnaires play a big role in determining what goes on the company’s menu, Livernoche says.

“The biggest source of new product development comes from feedback from our customers,” he says.

“We’ve molded the menu of the company by what our customers and the Web visitors have been telling us.”

Gray says this has resulted in a lot of referrals from customers. Livernoche says Dinewise has a very high customer retention rate, something Gray attributes in part to the company’s dedication to customer service. “Whenever we hear of a problem, we immediately fix it,” he says. “We try to create a very good customer experience from the time you order to when you have a question to when it comes to your home.”

Sending a Message
DineWise reaches out to potential customers through niche marketing. “Our two biggest sources of marketing are online marketing, and our offiline direct mail catalog,” Livernoche says.

However, Gray says, paper and postage cost hikes make it harder for DineWise to reach out to consumers in that way. “The cost of acquiring a customer is challenging,” he says. Fortunately, more seniors are using the Internet, which makes it easier for DineWise to reach them. “Direct mail is limited, but the Web is unlimited,” Gray says.

That doesn’t mean that the company is through looking for ways to reach customers, however. Livernoche says the time is right for DineWise to begin using mass-media outlets such as television, radio and print ads.

He says the company’s message in these ads will be focused on the benefits DineWise can bring to the average household.

“It’s really about convenience and quality and making your life easier and healthier,” Livernoche says. “All you really have to do is heat and eat one of our delicious chef-prepared meals, it really is as simple as that.” DineWise will continue to use direct mail as a marketing acquisition tool, Livernoche adds, but it will be focused on specific nutritional and niche markets.

Filling the Need
In the future, DineWise is looking to delve into other types of nutritional niches, Livernoche says. Areas such as gluten-free, vegetarian, all-natural and organic meals are ones in which he says the company’s model can thrive.

For organic or all-natural meals, he adds, customers interested in those types of products are not necessarily concerned about nutritional content, opening up more cross-marketing menu possibilities.

Gray says the company will be converting its microwavable packaging to steam packaging similar to the kind many frozen vegetables come in now.

He says this technology creates a better-quality meal than traditional TV-dinner-style packaging and may become the industry standard in microwavable food. In addition, the company is actively involved in strategic discussions for potential acquisitions to further its market position and accelerate its growth plans, he says.

 “I’m just trying to widen the reach of what DineWise does,” Gray says.