For a few dollars more, meal assembly saves time, expands menu

By Jennifer Openshaw

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- When my busy sister-in-law told me that she now prepares meals for the family a new way -- at a self-assembly shop -- I started to pay attention. And I paid even more attention when I learned a few weeks ago of another friend generating $8 million a year in revenue by owning three franchises in this fast-growing industry.

"Millionaire Zone" parents quickly discover that few options for good meals are available -- and most of them come with extra cheese or a supersize side of fries. Or a long wait at the supermarket Chinese counter for (yet again) the same fare.

What if -- for about the same amount of time spent in a long grocery line -- you could assemble a full meal, take it home, stick it in the oven and have it ready when you come back from your minivan sojourn?

Where there's a need, there's a niche. Not surprisingly, an alternative is making its way into the mainstream around the country. It's called "meal assembly" and new franchised outlets have sprung forth to cater to busy parents.

With names like Dinner My Way or Dream Dinners or My Girlfriend's Kitchen, they all offer the same basic thing -- a restaurant-style kitchen where you can "assemble" several family dinners at once. You can eat one when you get home and freeze the rest to use as needed. You can even make the meal preparation a social affair -- with your Mom, kids, even friends.

We're talking complete meals -- entrée, a real "dish" like Garlic Strip Steaks or Teriyaki Salmon or a Chicken Sonora Casserole at Dinner My Way. And not to forget dessert, an Apple Crumble can be made there and taken home to be served later.
The concept started in Washington State with Dream Dinners, and competitors soon sprang up. Meal-prep companies have become one of the fastest-growing franchise businesses in the country. An industry Web site http://www.easymealprep.com/ lists 458 different companies as of September 2007.

Become 'chef' for a day

Let me describe a visit to Dinner My Way.

There are 16 different meals you can prepare, and each month 12 new ones are rotated onto the menu. Most franchises allow you to simply walk in, make your choices, pay and hit the kitchen. Busier locations may ask you to reserve a time. After all, too many cooks at once spoil the experience.

Once you decide which dishes you want to make, you proceed into what resembles a restaurant kitchen, with special workstations set up for each dish. You find the workstation for your choice.

The ingredients are already diced, chopped and prepared, and you simply follow a recipe card leading you through the steps of assembling the meal. All the seasonings and condiments are set up with measuring implements. Meats are either frozen or fresh, supplied by a restaurant-supply house and are portioned for the meal.

Containers appropriate to the meal are provided. You may add five, seven, even 10 ingredients to each meal.

Once finished, you put the meal into a small freezer container and go to your next dish. There is no cutting, no slicing, no mess to clean up. Each meal serves four to six people, but can be repackaged to fit your size requirement, for instance, dividing into two containers for a family of three. A sticker with cooking or heating instructions is placed on the container so you know what to do at home.

And finally, if you don't even have the time to prep the meal, they'll do it for you for a modest fee, $2.50 per meal in one example. You just phone in your choice and pick up the meal later that day.

A value proposition

OK, nice, but there's a cost, right? Those of you who read my columns know that ordinarily I try to save you money. This costs more. So what gives?

It's a value proposition. It does cost more than preparing your own meals at home. You might spend $17 to $25 per family meal (and check you local paper for "get acquainted" specials too).

But the benefits can be worth the cost, and if you get right down to it, it's not that much more expensive than the fast food or take-out pizza alternative you usually settle for. And it's way cheaper than that dinner for four, drinks and gratuity included, at Applebee's.

What do you gain?

· Time. Pure and simple. No grocery shopping, meal prep time or kitchen cleanups afterwards. And less stress too.

· Variety. Tired of the same old grilled pork chops and roast chicken thighs? Bet the kids are anyway. These meals offer a chance to experience new flavors -- real cooking -- and something new for the repertoire. You might even become a better cook, as you get to see how different ingredients go together.

· Complete family meals. There's growing evidence that families eating meals together are more functional. Research by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse finds "the more often children eat dinner with their families, the less likely they are to smoke, drink or use drugs." In fact, this organization has declared Sept. 24 "Family Day http://www.casafamilyday.org/ -- a day to eat dinner with your children."

· Some cost savings. OK, at $3.50 per meal per individual, on average -- yeah, you can do it cheaper. But the cost of maintaining a kitchen stocked well enough to make these meals probably exceeds what you think. There's that $6 bottle of sesame oil and the soy sauce and the honey and the garlic -- all of which you'd have to keep on hand to do this kind of cooking.

Dinner My Way franchisee Randy Vetterlein says that while there's plenty of competition, the idea is slowly catching on. "Summer was pretty slow, but there was a big uptick in business when everyone went back to school."

I'm not surprised.

Peter Sander contributed to this article.