May 29, 2006
A fresh approach | Camden-based Bistro Fresh has a new twist on microwave dinners, and grocery stores are taking notice
By Taylor Smith
A few years ago, Stephen Young was looking for an easy, healthy dinner for his family. Typical weekday evenings were spent shuttling his two boys, now 12 and nine, to band practice and soccer games, and time was at a premium.
Young found what he was looking for, but it was on the shelves of European grocery stores. Now, he's brought stateside a product that has steadily gained acolytes across the Atlantic. Young's Camden-based company, Bistro Fresh, sells prepackaged, microwaveable meals that aren't typical microwave dinners. Instead, Young says Bistro Fresh searches out the freshest ingredients and wraps them ˆ uncooked ˆ inside a proprietary microwaveable package. A nozzle regulates the amount of steam inside the package, cooking the meal in less than four minutes. The result, Young says, is an easy ˆ and healthy ˆ meal. "It's a pressure cooker for the microwave," he says. "Salmon, chicken, shrimp ˆ they all cook in their own juices."
Young's exuberance seems to be rubbing off on the right people. In February, he inked a deal to supply Whole Foods Market stores in the Northeast with his products ˆ such as curried salmon with rice and vegetables and mushroom chicken with pasta and vegetables ˆ which the Texas-based natural-foods chain sells under its 123 Fresh label. And in April, Scarborough-based Hannaford Bros. agreed to carry a number of Bistro Fresh products under the Inspirations Fast & Fresh Cuisine moniker. Young says he's in discussions with other prospective clients from Maine to California.
If the response from Hannaford customers is an indication, Bistro Fresh could strike a chord with consumers. The reaction to Inspiration Fast & Fresh products, which cost about $6 per meal, has been "extremely positive," says Caren Epstein, Hannaford's corporate spokeswoman. "We still sell a lot of fried chicken, but we found there was a growing market for something people could get that was healthy and quick," she says.
Neil Stern, a grocery analyst with Chicago-based retail consulting firm McMillan/Doolittle, says many supermarket chains like Hannaford are turning to prepared foods to boost their bottom line.
Many grocery stores, according to Stern, are seeing flat year-over-year growth, and the six or seven percent annual growth in sales of prepared foods is a big attraction. That means Bistro Fresh is tapping into a relatively fast-growing market, one Stern estimates drives around $15 billion a year in sales in the United States.
Bistro Fresh has begun to carve out a place in that market through its agreements with Hannaford and Whole Foods, but filling that demand has turned out to be more than a full-time job. Young says he's on the road most days, jetting to meetings around the country. Ramping up production to fill orders at hundreds of stores is no small task, either. To better handle those demands, Young contracted LSG Sky Chefs, a firm in East Granby, Conn., that packages airline meals. "We just kept working at it," Young says. "It's all lines of communication; it's having the right machinery and the right personnel in place."
European engineering
The idea for Bistro Fresh came to Young while he was working as vice president of sales and marketing for Ducktrap River Fish Farms in Belfast. Fjord Seafood, the Norwegian company that acquired Ducktrap River in 2001, had licensed a packaging technology from Switzerland-based Creative New Food and released a line of microwaveable meals in grocery stores around Europe. Young liked what he saw in that product: The ingredients were fresh, not frozen, and weren't packed with additives.
In 2003, Young decided to leave Ducktrap River after working there for nearly a decade, but he reestablished connections with Creative New Food. Young began negotiating with the company to become the sole U.S. licensee of its packaging technology, but it was a hard sell: Bistro Fresh had no track record and zero financing.
CNF eventually came around to Young's proposal, and so did a string of investors ˆ including industry contacts and angel investors ˆ who pumped $750,000 into the nascent venture. Today, the company employs six, including Young and his business partner, Glenn Flanders, the former controller at Ducktrap River. Product development, sales and other administrative tasks happen in Camden, where all but one employee works. From that office, Young and his staff track down ingredients all over North America, tapping sources like Canadian sauce makers, Boston fishmongers and Connecticut chicken farmers.
Meanwhile, the food preparation, packaging and distribution are handled in LSG Sky Chef's Connecticut facility, where Bistro Fresh has a staffer to oversee quality control. "We felt like we needed our own eyes on site ˆ trust, but verify," Young says.
Young expects the company to book sales between $3 million and $4 million this year, and sees growth on the horizon. He says a West Coast distribution deal with Whole Foods is "90% certain," and that discussions with another West Coast grocery chain, Raley's, are ongoing. Young is also trying to position Bistro Fresh in other venues. "Whether it's vending [machines] or helping patients get meals in hospitals," he says, "there are lots of different places we feel like we can place this product line."
Young found what he was looking for, but it was on the shelves of European grocery stores. Now, he's brought stateside a product that has steadily gained acolytes across the Atlantic. Young's Camden-based company, Bistro Fresh, sells prepackaged, microwaveable meals that aren't typical microwave dinners. Instead, Young says Bistro Fresh searches out the freshest ingredients and wraps them ˆ uncooked ˆ inside a proprietary microwaveable package. A nozzle regulates the amount of steam inside the package, cooking the meal in less than four minutes. The result, Young says, is an easy ˆ and healthy ˆ meal. "It's a pressure cooker for the microwave," he says. "Salmon, chicken, shrimp ˆ they all cook in their own juices."
Young's exuberance seems to be rubbing off on the right people. In February, he inked a deal to supply Whole Foods Market stores in the Northeast with his products ˆ such as curried salmon with rice and vegetables and mushroom chicken with pasta and vegetables ˆ which the Texas-based natural-foods chain sells under its 123 Fresh label. And in April, Scarborough-based Hannaford Bros. agreed to carry a number of Bistro Fresh products under the Inspirations Fast & Fresh Cuisine moniker. Young says he's in discussions with other prospective clients from Maine to California.
If the response from Hannaford customers is an indication, Bistro Fresh could strike a chord with consumers. The reaction to Inspiration Fast & Fresh products, which cost about $6 per meal, has been "extremely positive," says Caren Epstein, Hannaford's corporate spokeswoman. "We still sell a lot of fried chicken, but we found there was a growing market for something people could get that was healthy and quick," she says.
Neil Stern, a grocery analyst with Chicago-based retail consulting firm McMillan/Doolittle, says many supermarket chains like Hannaford are turning to prepared foods to boost their bottom line.
Many grocery stores, according to Stern, are seeing flat year-over-year growth, and the six or seven percent annual growth in sales of prepared foods is a big attraction. That means Bistro Fresh is tapping into a relatively fast-growing market, one Stern estimates drives around $15 billion a year in sales in the United States.
Bistro Fresh has begun to carve out a place in that market through its agreements with Hannaford and Whole Foods, but filling that demand has turned out to be more than a full-time job. Young says he's on the road most days, jetting to meetings around the country. Ramping up production to fill orders at hundreds of stores is no small task, either. To better handle those demands, Young contracted LSG Sky Chefs, a firm in East Granby, Conn., that packages airline meals. "We just kept working at it," Young says. "It's all lines of communication; it's having the right machinery and the right personnel in place."
European engineering
The idea for Bistro Fresh came to Young while he was working as vice president of sales and marketing for Ducktrap River Fish Farms in Belfast. Fjord Seafood, the Norwegian company that acquired Ducktrap River in 2001, had licensed a packaging technology from Switzerland-based Creative New Food and released a line of microwaveable meals in grocery stores around Europe. Young liked what he saw in that product: The ingredients were fresh, not frozen, and weren't packed with additives.
In 2003, Young decided to leave Ducktrap River after working there for nearly a decade, but he reestablished connections with Creative New Food. Young began negotiating with the company to become the sole U.S. licensee of its packaging technology, but it was a hard sell: Bistro Fresh had no track record and zero financing.
CNF eventually came around to Young's proposal, and so did a string of investors ˆ including industry contacts and angel investors ˆ who pumped $750,000 into the nascent venture. Today, the company employs six, including Young and his business partner, Glenn Flanders, the former controller at Ducktrap River. Product development, sales and other administrative tasks happen in Camden, where all but one employee works. From that office, Young and his staff track down ingredients all over North America, tapping sources like Canadian sauce makers, Boston fishmongers and Connecticut chicken farmers.
Meanwhile, the food preparation, packaging and distribution are handled in LSG Sky Chef's Connecticut facility, where Bistro Fresh has a staffer to oversee quality control. "We felt like we needed our own eyes on site ˆ trust, but verify," Young says.
Young expects the company to book sales between $3 million and $4 million this year, and sees growth on the horizon. He says a West Coast distribution deal with Whole Foods is "90% certain," and that discussions with another West Coast grocery chain, Raley's, are ongoing. Young is also trying to position Bistro Fresh in other venues. "Whether it's vending [machines] or helping patients get meals in hospitals," he says, "there are lots of different places we feel like we can place this product line."
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