A dream dinner may bring to mind a free steak for some people. Dream Dinners is also a quickly rising food franchise business. It involves locations where people can go to cook according to menus, then take the food home to serve throughout the month. It’s one of those ideas that has people slapping their foreheads while exclaiming “why didn’t I think of that”?
People are very busy today. Work and school and a variety of other activities for family members mean it’s harder than ever to eat well . Even the terrific pre-made food available today in stores isn’t quite the same as home cooking. But doesn’t something have to give when time is on a budget? This franchise lives in that space.
It works something like this. Customers select up to 14 menu meals every month. Food is then purchased by serving. Then the consumers cook the meals, at the store. Most creative cooking experts supervise in either private or public cooking sessions. It’s a little bit like a cooking show where the show gives the viewer the food then helps them prepare it along with the host.
It sounds a lot more expensive that it really is. Although salads and side dishes are separate, the main course is only about $3.50 per serving for all 14 meals. The cost per serving with the sides is about $5. For food, menu planning, and hands-on meal preparation training and supervision, that’s a steal.
These locations are franchises people own. There has been some tension. 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 company didn’t look very good in the article. Franchisees flocked to this brand new idea. 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.