To some folks a dream dinner might be any decent food they can get for free. Dream Dinners is also a clever food franchise that’s growing fast. It’s all about people cooking under supervision according to planned menus. Yes, you’re probably saying “why didn’t I come up with that one”?
Americans are busier than ever before. Work and school and a variety of other activities for family members mean it’s harder than ever to eat well . Sure there are many quality frozen and ready made foods, but somehow it’s never the same as a good home cooked meal. But when the typical day involves so much, who has time to cook, much less time to plan a menu or learn how to make the items on it? That’s where this franchise steps into the picture.
The program works like this. Patrons go in and select some or all of 14 meals from a menu. Number of servings determines cost of each meal. Then the consumers cook the meals, at the store. This can be accomplished either in public or private sessions, with creative cooking pros directing the preparation action. It’s as if a cooking show host steps out of the television to show people how to make the meal.
The meals are a lot less expensive than it would appear when the concept is first described. A 14 item menu costs about $3.50 per serving, with side dishes and extras like salads and potatoes purchased separately. A total of about $5 per serving isn’t a bad price to pay for a good meal. For food, menu planning, and hands-on meal preparation training and supervision, that’s a steal.
These locations are franchises people own. And there’s been some controversy behind the franchise. It’s not the food or menus or preparation, but rather the franchiseesSome of the franchisees aren’t happy. Forbes magazine published a detailed account of Dream Dinners in early 2008. The story made the corporation look pretty bad. The new concept quickly gained popularity and attracted would be business owners. But many of the franchisees lost their shirts after only a short time, which meant the business plan may be flawed. Forbes claims the franchisees were sold a bill of goods when it came to the claims of wild success.
That’s something for the company to handle. For patrons, it’s fun to handle the cooking chores while working off of a wonderful menu.
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