After feeling harried in the kitchen at the end of the working day, four busy Calgary professionals decided they needed help.
The four women agreed they wanted detailed menu planning via the internet so they could offer a variety of easy to prepare, nutritious meals their families would eat.
The result was the launch of a website called www.wovenfare.com based on the concept of weaving healthy meals into daily life.
“We are marketing to the individual who has responsibility for the family’s busy life, but it puts in place a plan the whole family can participate in,” said marketing manager Cecilia de la Rocha, one of the four partners in the company called Wovenfare.
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The other partners are Michelle Shaw Williams and Jodi Maxwell, who worked for a major Canadian telecom company in Calgary, and Justine Brown, who owned a web design business.
The service went national in March and already has about 1,400 registered clients across North America, Great Britain and Australia.
“By the very nature of being an on-line service we have been able to go international,” said de la Rocha who was an engineer before joining Wovenfare full time.
They thought their key market group would be women in the 25-55 age group but about 20 percent of their clients are men, along with some seniors. They also have some rural customers but recognize access to their website is a challenge for those who do not have high speed internet connections. The system is designed so customers can receive electronic messages with their meal plans and have less frustration with dropped connections when viewing a detailed website.
To start, a potential client logs onto the site and answers a preference questionnaire about foods the family likes or dislikes. A two week trial offer includes meal plans, a grocery list and an organization calendar. Some plans do not require exact recipes so this reduces measuring and special preparations.
“We have opted to choose our meal plans that speak to basic, healthy eating,” de la Rocha said.
All clients receive an e-mail telling them when their individually designed meal plans are available. Each plan is based on a bundle of seven dinners. Customers pay from $5 for one bundle to $60 for 20 bundles with 140 dinner plans.
Each meal plan has dinnertime suggestions that include a main dish, two side dishes and an accompaniment. The user decides what makes up each meal.
The site provides links to government websites for more food information. The business also formed partnerships with producer groups such as the Beef Information Centre, Alberta Pork, Turkey Marketing Board and Dairy Farmers of Canada. The groups provide added information on meat cuts, proper cooking methods and safe food handling.
Having a set meal plan may not save money on groceries but it does help make smarter purchases. The list carries all ingredients for the week’s plan and helps reduce waste on products not used.
“It saves on not having to do takeout or go to a restaurant or ad hoc trips to the grocery store,” de la Rocha said.
