.webp)
April 26, 2024
Megan Scott is the co-founder of Planted Table, one of the Bay Area’s most successful and innovative meal delivery businesses. We’ll talk about how she buil
Host: While we wait, Megan, I'm curious. If you're drinking coffee this morning, do you drink coffee?
Megan: Yes, definitely. I don't know how you could run a meal delivery service and not drink coffee.
Host: What's your routine? Do you make it at home or go get coffee?
Megan: I make it at home. I make an oat milk latte every morning with one pump of peppermint syrup.
Host: Peppermint syrup, even in the summer?
Megan: Yep, even in the summer. With cinnamon on top.
Host: That's wild. I guess the Bay Area is pretty temperate though, right?
Megan: It is, and I'm drinking coffee at 5am, so it's always dark and cold at that time.
Host: There you go. I've switched to herbal tea. It's now 1 o'clock and I can't justify it. I'm already pretty hyped up.
Host: So Megan has joined us. She is the founder and operator of Planted Table in the Bay Area. I was a customer when I lived in San Francisco and ordered your food regularly. It was fantastic. One of the downsides of leaving was not being able to order anymore.
Megan: That's kind of you to say. So Planted Table is a plant-based meal delivery service serving the entire Bay Area in California. Everything's organic, 100 percent vegan. We've been around for six years now. One thing that sets us apart is we don't use any single-use containers. We're 100 percent plastic-free. We use reusable containers. Our goal is to be a zero waste meal delivery service.
Host: What inspired that? Why zero waste?
Megan: It wasn't something we set out to do initially. My business partner and I were in the early stages of our business plan. Part of why we're vegan is for environmental reasons. We looked at how many servings of food we'd be putting out every week—over a thousand. Most containers are not compostable or recyclable. That's a thousand containers in a landfill every week just for our business. It just didn't align with our values at all. We didn't feel confident moving forward unless we could figure something out that wasn't adding so much garbage to landfills. That's how we came up with the reusable containers.
Host: I know it's a logistical nightmare. Let's walk through how you handle it from a customer perspective in terms of ordering. I know you want to offer one-time options but also have reusable containers. What's the trick?
Megan: For the customer, it's our job to make it very clear through the ordering process that delivery comes with reusable containers and it's their responsibility to return them. Using Bottle, we ask a question that they have to type "yes" to move forward. We charge a refundable deposit on the containers, which also come with ice packs and an insulated bag. Once we receive all of those back, they get their deposit refunded. That's a little incentive for them to get everything back to us.
Host: Do you have a complex system to track all the containers?
Megan: We don't. We researched it and the ROI just isn't there for the investment in time and money versus the very few people who don't return our containers. I think if you're choosing a service like ours, you're invested in the environment as much as we are and you don't want to steal our containers. We try to make it very easy for customers to return them, so it's on an honor system.
Host: What does the customer do to return the containers?
Megan: We included a link to a quick 30-second YouTube video that gives step-by-step instructions. It's simple: empty out all the food, let the container dry—we don't want them to wash it—and put it back in the bag. When we deliver your next order, we pick up the old bag and container. If you're not getting another delivery, I send you a text link to schedule a pickup through our website. We also have several drop-off locations throughout the Bay Area.
Host: I remember you used a third-party delivery service when I was a customer. Are you still doing that? Do they handle the container pickups too?
Megan: About half of our deliveries are third-party and half are with our in-house drivers. The Bay Area is such a large territory that it makes sense to have a third-party driver for half and in-house drivers for the other half. We're based in Oakland but deliver to both Oakland and San Francisco. We actually deliver to about six different counties, so it's a pretty large territory.
Host: What do you see in customers that stick with you? Why do people sign up for Planted Table and why do your best customers stay?
Megan: We have customers with us since the very beginning. As much as I'd like to say it's because of the environmental aspects or awesome customer service or a great ordering platform, it's the food. The food is what keeps people coming back. We make plant-based food, but we have such a big variety. We probably have 40 different dishes on there every week and there's something for everyone from all different cultures. The consistency and quality is what keeps people coming back.
Host: How do you think about what items to keep versus new items to introduce?
Megan: You have to introduce new items. The weeks we have new items and promote them, we see a big increase in sales. If I just put the word "new" in an email subject line, it gets 10 percent more openings than if I don't. That's huge. You've got to have new items, even if it's similar to something you had before but tweaked. Instead of a green curry, it's a pumpkin curry because it's fall, and you can make that exciting.
Host: So new is really important, but you're also evaluating data?
Megan: Exactly. It's very clear and easy to see what sells and what people get excited about. A lot of it has to do with how long the food lasts, if it's freezer-friendly. There are so many different variables for what makes something sell. Sometimes it's like throwing spaghetti on the wall and seeing what sticks. A lot of times we just don't really know. We're often surprised at what sells.
Host: How do you balance the best sellers that should always be available versus maintaining newness? Do you have items that always stay, or do you keep a certain percentage rotating?
Megan: We utilize categories in the Bottle order form. The top category is our new meals for the week. Right now, our next delivery date is May 1st, so it's "May 1st Weekly Meals!" That's where everything new and exciting goes. Below that are freezer meals that have maybe been on the menu a couple of times, some soups we're trying to move. Then we have what we call "add-on items"—fresh cut veggies, ranch dip, fruit platters, breakfast options, overnight oats, chia seed pudding, snacks, desserts. We offer products from other vendors that we don't make in-house too. We use about seven categories, and in each category we have between five to maybe fifteen items. The top category is always what's new, exciting, and hot. We try not to repeat a meal more than once every six weeks. Everything is seasonal too. Right now we're focusing on spring and summer—corn, tomatoes. Since we're vegan, it's heavily produce-based, so we work within seasonal meals.
Host: That's interesting. New items drives new orders. You'd think messaging "new" constantly would wear down customers, but it seems to always work.
Megan: It really does. We just made little strawberry shortcake jars because we had some extra organic strawberries. That's our new exciting item—strawberry shortcake jars. If I put that in the email header, they sell out instantly.
Host: Let's talk about subscription versus one-off orders. You're a little unique because your subscription is tied to the reusable containers. What percentage of your business is subscription-based versus one-time ordering?
Megan: We mainly get one-offs from people using gift certificates. We sell a lot of gift certificates, especially for baby showers and events. Those people are primarily one-offs. We don't get a lot of other one-time orders. If I had to guess, maybe less than 5 percent.
Host: So you're really pushing people toward subscription?
Megan: We have two meal plans. We have a weekly subscriber plan and then we have a-la-carte with no pressure, nothing automatic. Place an order when you want. However, you don't get the discounts that weekly members get—you pay full price on everything. The majority of our members fall under the a-la-carte category. They like the ease of use with no minimums. They can place one order every month. I'd say about half are a-la-carte and half are weekly members. But I wouldn't call a-la-carte one-off. They still order more than once. They just don't want to be weekly. They're set up to receive the weekly text from Bottle with the menu every week. They're just not auto-charged.
Host: That's a good distinction. Both of those are members of the business, which makes sense. One-time or gift card buyers are the real non-members.
Host: What's something you're really proud of from Planted Table over the last six years?
Megan: I'm proud to still be here after six years. I'm proud of the reviews we've received—we've never gotten a horrible review. Really proud of our customer service and how well we take care of our customers. I'm proud of how well we treat our team and staff, and how much my business partner and I have grown. And I'm proud of what we're offering. It's really rewarding when customers tell us we've changed their lives, improved their quality of life, made transitioning to plant-based eating more fun and exciting. That's really rewarding.
Host: How have you grown? Is there something in particular that stands out as a lesson learned?
Megan: Many lessons, mainly logistical on the operations side. Ways to pack bags more efficiently, ways to increase sales. When we first started, we had 20 meal plans going out every week. Now we're at about 200, plus some corporate catering and other special partnerships. There's been a lot of growth.
Host: Do you have a business philosophy?
Megan: Really, what I would stress is don't sweat the small stuff. I know it's clichéd, but when we first started, there's going to be stress and hiccups every day on some side of the business. An order doesn't arrive, a staff member doesn't show up, someone's not happy, a delivery doesn't make it. There's always something. In the beginning, each little thing was very stressful—sometimes to the point of crying or not sleeping. Now after six years, everything's fixable. There's always a solution. If someone quits or doesn't show up, we figure it out. We had a really bad incident in November with some staff stealing from us, and it was stressful, but never to the point of affecting my overall quality of life because I just knew we'd figure it out. So my advice, especially if you're newer, is not to let these little things become toxic in your everyday life. Things work themselves out.
Host: What are the big challenges you face, both overall and day-to-day?
Megan: Having enough time to do everything is hard. Balancing family life and wanting to do other things besides work while growing a business is hard. As a business owner, it's hard to allocate tasks to staff because I want things done my way. A lot of things I still haven't handed off that I probably should. And staffing is hard. The nature of the game is you get people who aren't going to be permanent. We've had awesome people work for us for over a year and then one day they just don't show up again. You never hear from them again. It's just the nature of the game. We learned that the hard way—you can't get too invested in someone who might not show up. You have to move on.
Host: How do you recruit people?
Megan: We use Craigslist. We've tried indeed, message boards, word of mouth, different cooking schools. Craigslist has been really successful for us. Once we find someone good, we promote from within. We never hire at the management level. We always promote from within—that's something we've done from the beginning. We invest in our staff. When we find good ones, we send them to training, different management courses, work with them on our management style. The kitchen is a different beast. Coming from a corporate world, when I first started running a kitchen, it was a whole different world. Some people come from high-energy, toxic male-dominated kitchens, and we have to completely change the energy levels. It's very interesting. I'm not the executive chef, but our executive chef sets the tone for the kitchen, and that's key to keeping staff, especially those coming from stressful environments.
Host: What's your kitchen setup now? Do you own it, or do you have shared kitchen space?
Megan: We got really lucky. When we first started six years ago, we found a gorgeous vegan restaurant that was only using it for pop-ups. We started by renting the space for three days a week from the main lady who held the lease. After about a year, we were growing so fast and she wanted to scale back. We ended up taking over the lease from her completely and bought the entire kitchen space from her—all the equipment, everything she built out. We've had our own private kitchen for about five years. Just last December, we started renting out the kitchen space to a pop-up restaurant when we're not using it. That's been really great. There's been a learning curve in sharing the space, but overall it's been great and helps pay the bills for the space.
Host: That's a calm evolution compared to what I usually hear about kitchen moves and buildouts.
Megan: We toured a lot of spaces because we weren't sure if buying the equipment and the kitchen was the right option. We had a realtor help us tour many kitchens, and it all cemented our belief that we are where we're supposed to be. We have an eight or nine-year lease on this space now.
Host: I remember emailing you during COVID about the kitchen regulations. What was your COVID experience like as things shut down?
Megan: COVID was very difficult. As a meal delivery service, customers were stressing how much they needed us. They wanted beautiful food dropped off on their doorstep without going anywhere. But our staff, especially in the beginning when things were really unknown, were terrified to be at work cooking in a small kitchen space. We couldn't get a lot of the PPE equipment we needed. We tried to keep operating, but it became really hard, especially when kids were out of school. Both my business partner and I have small children, and we were taking them to the kitchen with us. We were literally crying at the end of every day. It was very difficult.
Megan: We made the tough decision to close down in May. We stayed closed for 10 weeks. That 10 weeks ended up being a real gift because it made us realize how we'd been operating in chaos mode for a very long time, just trying to survive without time to reflect on how we were operating or how it could be more efficient. We took those 10 weeks to completely overhaul our business. When we came back, we came back with a much smaller crew, a whole different schedule, and a whole different way of operating and fulfilling orders. It turned out so much better, and we've only continued to improve. If we didn't get that time to stop and reflect, I don't know if we'd be where we are now. Looking back, it was a gift.
Host: From there, what was your growth trajectory? Are there things you wish you'd done sooner, or things you're glad you waited on?
Megan: One thing we realized was we had way too many staff members. In chaos mode, we'd just hire without evaluating if everyone was working as efficiently as possible. That was a big thing. We're constantly looking at our staff and whether it reflects the numbers we're bringing in. We also constantly evaluate our menu. Do you have 10 meals and aim to sell 50 of each, or do you have five meals and aim to sell 100 of those? That's a tough one to figure out, but we're always experimenting. We really streamlined the vendors we work with. Streamlining that was really helpful. We changed the way we deliver food and improved the delivery service we work with. Routes got optimized. I don't think there's a single aspect of the business we haven't fine-tuned.
Host: Is there something you finally did and thought, "Wow, I wish we'd done that two years ago"?
Megan: We just recently switched to Bottle 2.0, and I think we were late in the game on that one. I do wish we'd done it a couple years ago. I personally spent 10 hours figuring out nutrition facts and how they work for us, how they look, and whether they'll add to or take away from sales. Every change you make, I internalize and think about how it's going to work for my business and what it means for sales. That's a big one. We used to do a lot of marketing events—setting up tables, handing out samples. I said yes to every invitation. Now I don't. Events are very expensive, very time-consuming, and the ROI just isn't there for us. I really wish it was.
Host: When you do events, do they work at all?
Megan: The interesting thing about events is certain ones work. The ones that work seem to be where there's less than 10 people in the room. Anytime a gym asks me to speak, I always say yes. Gyms are awesome for us. Get me in a room with 10 gym members and I can get three really good new customers. We can do huge street fair events where I talk to 500 people and we'll get none. They'll say, "I've heard of you, you're so awesome," but we don't get a single order. For us, if I can get in a room with good people who are actually going to retain the information, we'll get good customers from that.
Host: You reached out after we had a Google expert on and mentioned that Yelp actually works for you. I'd love to dig into that.
Megan: When I heard that interview where Yelp was really dismissed as a marketing tool, I just wanted to share that wasn't my experience. When we were first starting, we didn't get any loans or partnerships. My business partner and I took a little money from personal savings to start. We didn't have a lot for a large marketing campaign. Getting Yelp reviews didn't cost us anything and we found it really valuable, especially for SEO. If you're a brand new company, you won't have established SEO. Unless you're paying Google a lot of money, you won't show up on the first page of search results. But with Yelp, if you've got a couple of good reviews, you'll show up in the top results. When people click on it and see all these nice things about your business, it's a really good marketing tool. I keep wanting to stop paying for Yelp advertising, but I'm always reminded that when it comes to food, people are using Yelp reading reviews. We've invested a lot of time into Yelp. We don't do a lot of paid advertising, but we do some. We have over 105-star reviews and we don't have any reviews under four stars. That's a very compelling sales tool. We use those reviews on our website, social media, and other marketing. If you're starting a business or don't have a huge marketing budget, Yelp could be a really valuable tool.
Host: How do you drive reviews?
Megan: Anytime a customer sends us a text through Bottle saying something nice about a dish, I say thank you so much and it would make our day if you could share that on our Yelp page. Now I'm focusing more on Google because we've done a really good job with Yelp. Google is where we could use reviews right now.
Host: You're not supposed to solicit Yelp reviews, correct?
Megan: Right. I don't put it in an email blast. But if someone's reaching out to say something nice, I'll ask them to share that. Yelp doesn't want you to send out large emails or have a thing on your website saying "leave a Yelp review." They want it to be more authentic. There's a lot of annoying things about Yelp—they hide reviews, want you to advertise. You could sit and find all the reasons to ignore Yelp completely. But from my experience, it leads to sales.
Host: What are some other growth drivers for you in terms of inbound interest?
Megan: We do Google Ads. We put a lot of effort into our website and making it beautiful. We have a sign-up for our newsletter where people get a free ebook. I personally wrote the ebook they receive. We use the Bottle referral program and give $20 to the recipient and the person ordering for the first time. We remind customers about the referral program constantly. We take advantage of abandoned cart messaging—the day before the deadline, we send a "we noticed you have items in your cart" message. I also send an email blast with a countdown clock to remind people it's their final hours to order. We're really lucky to have a popular, walkable storefront location with great signage and a QR code and text options on the signs to get the menu. We've gotten really great customers from people walking by, including corporate catering. I have the Bottle phone number on the door saying "text for menu," and I could be at home brushing my teeth and someone wants the menu. I send it to them, they're in our system, and I can market to them in the future.
Host: That QR code leading to phone number capture is a great lead gen tool. And you mentioned the ebook earlier. Tell me more about that.
Megan: I designed it in Canva, and it was pretty easy. It was one of my COVID 10-week-off projects. It's about plant-based eating—what is plant-based eating, what foods they'll find in our meal plans, supplements we recommend. Just overall guidance.
Host: Do you have a loyalty program?
Megan: Yes. I think every 200 or so in spending, we send a really heartfelt message thanking them for supporting our small business and give them $10 to get a dessert or something.
Host: Is there anything else you'd love to share? Any final wisdom?
Megan: I do handwritten thank you cards to our customers. I pick one customer every week and write them a handwritten thank you card with a little gift. I think we spend so much time focused on marketing and getting new customers, but it's important to take good care of the customers we have, especially really good ones.
Host: That's an amazing practice. I should write you a handwritten note as a customer all these years. That's such a good idea.
Host: I want to talk about Bottle. We're really lucky to support your business. I'm curious what your experience was pre-Bottle and post-Bottle.
Megan: Pre-Bottle was a nightmare. We were using a WordPress subscription plugin that wasn't made for meal delivery services at all. It was awful—an awful user experience on both sides. I spent a long time trying to find really great meal delivery software. People kept emailing me with solutions, but nothing worked for us. We're a really specific kind of business and they were all really expensive, way more than I could afford. About a year in, Andy emailed asking if I wanted to hear about his meal delivery software. I said yes, and we had a great conversation. I realized this could actually work for us and we could afford it. It was a game changer. It makes my job so much easier. Things I was doing manually, I don't have to do anymore. The texting feature is such a game changer. I can be anywhere in the world and respond instantly when someone messages. If you look at our Yelp reviews, one of the most common things you see is "great customer service," and that's really due to this messaging feature. I use the voice function and set up shortcuts in my phone. If someone texts about nutritional facts, I type "NUT" and it pulls up my whole spiel. They get a response in seconds. This makes running the business and communicating with people very easy, and customers aren't used to that level of service from big companies.
Host: We've been really lucky to support your business, and we're proud of the new product. Hopefully it continues to grow your business and make things easy for you.
Host: What are your long-term plans with Planted Table?
Megan: Our lease on our commercial kitchen is up in three or four years, and I don't think we're going to renew another 10-year lease. I don't know exactly what it will look like, but I do know we're not going to keep operating at the level we operate now. We'd like to create some digital products. We're working on a cookbook. It would be cool if Bottle could sell digital downloads for us because we offer some on our website, but it'd be nice to sell them through Bottle. Some cookbooks, recipes, and maybe some events and trips. We have an email list of thousands of really plant health-focused people in the Bay Area who are passionate about veganism and the environment. I feel like there's a lot we could do with that. We're brainstorming what the future might look like without us physically working in the kitchen for so long.
Host: You're not the only one wanting digital products. There's a lot of opportunity there, especially with a niche the way you do. One other tip: really take the time to tell your story on your about us page. A lot of competitors are national-based and don't even have a face attached to the company—just a logo. You and your business partner wrote your whole story of why you started this business. You get feedback on that all the time. People actually sit down and read it and really like it. Just authentically put your face and story to your business because you're competing with just a logo.
Megan: When we started researching our business, we couldn't find who the chef was at these companies—who's actually making the food. So it was a big priority to really market our chef. People gravitate toward personality and the person behind the business. They want to see that.
Host: That's such a good point. Your competitor isn't the other local competitor. It's Factor and the national services. The opportunity is definitely there to build something way higher quality and better. Thank you so much for being such a great customer all these years and for sharing your time with us today. It's awesome what you're building, and it's cool that people feel their lives have been changed by your food. Thank you.
Megan: Thank you for having me. This has been a lot of fun.