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Thursday, May 20, 2010

DIETS "MADE TO ORDER" AND DELIVER TOO!-AN EMERGING TRENS

Food delivery service is an off shoot of the special needs of modern society when cooking time in kitchen is drastically shrinking due to demand for time for other daily activities. Restaurants and eateries have come to be established as an essential part of to day's living style precisely for this reason. But increasing transportation bottlenecks and long distances between offices, factories and home settlements are creating the need for a service that can ensure delivery of prepared foods in a "ready to eat" format, at the door steps of consumers. Specialized restaurants are already offering such services in many metropolitan areas in many countries building up substantial clientele, expanding their business in the process. But a new trend seems to be emerging in this service sector with some trailblazers opening up new avenue for food business. Though they are few in number, theses service providers offer nutritionally balanced and special meals that help customers to "manage" their body weight or meet customized nutritional needs.

"In a telephone interview, Dr. Sears said he wasn't familiar with Zone Manhattan, but when he looked at the company's Web site, he said, "If they're making good Zone meals, and I applaud them if they are, then they're solving the compliance problem." (Dr. Sears's own Web site sells Zone products, but not the kind of prepared meals that I was looking for, and he admitted that cooking meals at home in the 40:30:30 ratio can be daunting.) The Zone ratio, he said, maintains a hormone balance and keeps you from feeling hungry. Zone Manhattan was my hands-down favorite. I called its owner, Steven Lindner, whose company is near the Fulton Fish Market in the Hunts Point section of the Bronx. He said he is at the market most days by 6 a.m. By 7 a.m., he said, the company's kitchen is preparing food that will go out on delivery trucks that night. He also said that, like restaurants delivering take-out food, he doesn't have to list ingredients on the packages, something that could change if he expands to other states. Both Nu-Kitchen and eDiets, which operate nationally, listed every ingredient. Chefs Diet did not".

The above trend, though just emerging in some areas in the US, is likely to be followed in many megalopolis areas in other countries too in the near future. Whether they will remain popular is an issue that will be decided in the coming years. How much influence the local food regulations will have on the development is also unpredictable. That such a service, backed up by experienced dietitians, health experts and nutritionists, has a relevance in the coming years is indisputable.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

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