Milestone deliveries reached by Powermeals in Switzerland

Please login or
register
16.08.2022
Swiss map

Since its launch in 2020, over 150,000 dishes have been delivered by Powermeals accross Switzerland. The Geneva start-up is on a mission to make healthy eating easy. The premise is simple: deliver balanced, chef-cooked meals to your home on a weekly basis. The service has been designed to ensure that its customers receive seasonal and varied meals that respect their dietary needs, without any time spent in the kitchen.

Founded in 2020, Powermeals is the brainchild of Illya Abegg. A Geneva-based entrepreneur, Illya is not new to the food business, having previously run a juice company and health café. Keen to help a larger slice of the Swiss population, Powermeals was inspired by international models, which have proved their worth, enabling users to save hours of time in the kitchen each week. Illya was able to make the most of her experience abroad (United Kingdom, France, China) to create a Swiss-made meal delivery service that is delicious, balanced, and accessible to all.

However, adapting these concepts to the Swiss market takes more than a copy-paste: “Switzerland has a lot of different cultures packed into a relatively small population, which creates a unique challenge when planning this kind of service” Illya explains. “Our business model relies on being able to reach the whole country from one kitchen, so we’ve had to come up with new solutions for fresh transportation Swiss-wide. We’re very pleased to say that today we have subscribers in nearly every canton.”

Fresh deliveries all over Switzerland with a minimal environmental cost

To avoid food waste, orders must be placed six days before delivery. This is when the kitchen, run by Executive Chef Emmanuel Pisch, goes into action to source fresh ingredients from local suppliers. Everything is then cooked from scratch without additives in the Geneva kitchen. The food is packaged in a modified atmosphere enabling a week-long shelf-life without the need for nasty preservatives. The meals are then packed in boxes insulated with wastepaper insulation and kept fresh with recyclable icepacks that maintain the cold chain for over 30 hours. This allows Powermeals to ship the meals through the Swiss Post with next-day delivery. Once they arrive on the doorstep, they can be stored in the fridge and re-heated for mealtimes throughout the week.

“With Powermeals, healthy eating doesn’t have to be a chore," explains Illya Abegg. “Our meals arrive on doorsteps all over the country, ready to be enjoyed. The offer is healthier than the ready- made meals of the supermarkets and cheaper than a restaurant. It also meets a need for easy mid- day meals now that working from home has become commonplace.”

Won over clients drive growth

The startup currently delivers around 12,000 meals per month, peaking at 14’058. Speaking of growth, Powermeals’ Chief Marketing Officer Isabel Acland explains to Startupticker.ch “We've managed to grow every quarter since we first launched in 2020, helped by a following of very loyal clients for whom Powermeals has become a lifestyle. That said, we do see a lot of seasonality in our growth, Summer months are more sluggish due to holidays, which can be frustrating, whereas in January our meals almost sell themselves with a big influx of customers seeking out a healthy change.” 

Marketing efforts have also been key to reach clients in different parts of Switzerland. Isabel Acland tells us more: “Like many start-ups we have to make our budgets go a long way. We do use the traditional channels (Google and Social media) but we've also tried other approaches to reach local communities for whom Powermeals could be a gamechanger. For example, since a lot of our clients are working long hours and don't have time to cook, we've approached businesses to share employee discounts. We also offer discounts through nutritionists, gyms and care services. Plus we recently launched a give 30, get 30 referral scheme so that our customers can help us spread the word.”

(ES)

 

 

0Comments

More news about

Powermeals SA

Company profiles on startup.ch

Powermeals SA

rss