The global health crisis has at least done something positive for the restaurant business — it has challenged entrepreneurial minds to come up with innovative ways to keep chefs busy and deliver food to clients in a safe and cost-effective way. A Brooklyn-based company by the name of CookUnity offers a wide selection of quality meals by independent culinary artists.
CookUnity’s Unusual Business Model
The motto of CookUnity’s founders is pretty straightforward; be to food delivery what Spotify is to music – offer an infinite variety of meals from a number of talented culinary artists. The meal subscription service currently offers meals from 32 independent chefs. So, how does it work? CookUnity provides chefs with shared kitchens, ingredients, and support services like delivery and dishwashing. Subscribers to the service pay between $10.50 to $13.50 per meal, depending on their weekly plan. Chefs earn about a 20%-25% cut of each order.
The goal of CookUnity is to help busy individuals eat more healthily by sparing them the time to research, buy, and cook their food. The platform pledges to only using wholesome ingredients from local farms, where products are free of artificial flavors and GMO. Everything is humanely raised and organic when possible.
A Widely Customizable Subscription Service
Much like Spotify, CookUnity is incredibly easy to use and customize. You can update your meal preferences, rate meals and chefs, get auto-pilot deliveries, adjust recipes, and basically create and adapt your own menu.
Is this the future of food delivery? Who knows. What matters is that platforms like CookUnity make it possible for chefs like 53-year-old Chris Ratel to do what he loves while saving up to open his own restaurant. Ratel’s classic American comfort food is one of the top sellers in the meal-delivery service. It may have all started in Brooklyn, but judging by the company’s success, it’s only a matter of time until it branches out.