Wanting to better prepare meals for couples and families, local salad and wrap restaurant chain Freshjunkie has expanded its meal prep services, setting up an online pre-order platform with plans to add more menu options weekly.
The changes rolled out a few weeks ago with the launch of a website that allows customers to pre-order and pay for their prepared meals online before picking them up on Monday or Wednesday at either the Southdowns or downtown location of Freshjunkie.
Prepped meals are already stocked in-store each week—an option owner Pat Fellows says usually works well for individuals. However, the website marks an effort to better prepare the right amount of food for more people at once, such as couples and families of four, which make up much of Fellows’ customer base.
The prepared menu will be updated every Thursday, says Fellows, who will add new items and swap others until he builds a menu of eight to 10 meal options that will be rotated monthly.
“We’ll see what’s seasonal and what the demand is,” Fellows says, adding the first menu update will take place the week after the Labor Day holiday.
Once the expanded meal prep service picks up, Fellows will consider setting up delivery spots in several high-demand Louisiana markets, including New Orleans, Lafayette and Mandeville, where customers could meet a Freshjunkie employee at a designated location to pick up their pre-ordered meals on a certain day and timeframe.
While the concept is still in its preliminary stage, Fellows doesn’t plan to open brick-and-mortar locations in any of the cities. Instead, he’s considering partnering with different businesses that would let them use their space as a meeting site for pickups. Rather than use a delivery service, he would send his own workers to the areas.
Meanwhile, the chain is expanding its breakfast menu to include four types of smoothies as well as more coffee options, such as iced coffee. The new items will be available next week.
