Serving the Dane County community
By Katie Ginder-Vogel
Jon Marrone moved to Madison in 2010 to work in technical services for Epic Systems, and he always knew at some point he’d start his own business. He tried a few meal kit companies and loved how convenient they made cooking, with all the ingredients pre-packaged and step-by-step recipes with photos.
“It got you cooking and trying different foods, but the problem with it, which is true of all national meal kits, is the amount of packaging waste,” Marrone says. “You’ve got single use packaging–a box you have to break down, insulation and an ice pack you have to get rid of, and I started thinking about how to solve for that.”
Starting a Local Meal Kit Service and Software Platform
Marrone’s idea was to scale down the meal kit business model to a local region or city, to control and own deliveries, to avoid using third parties.
“Then, you can deliver in your own packaging that you can collect and reuse each week,” he says. “I thought Madison might be a good city in which to try it, where people love supporting local businesses; there’s a strong foodie scene; and people support eco-friendly initiatives.”
From 2016-2018, Marrone used his technical skills to develop software, a website, and an app for Isthmus Eats. He envisioned a software platform that could be used by meal kit services in other areas, and a local meal kit service in Madison that would be based on partnerships with local farms and other food vendors.
In 2018, Marrone left Epic and launched Isthmus Eats two weeks later. The software platform, Ready Kit Go Solutions, is its own business. Customers upload their logos and brand elements, plus their own text, and use shared recipes that Marrone developed at home and continues to hone.
Marrone describes the business as low-risk, because it’s subscription-based, with a pre-planned menu. Everything is done online–signup, meal selection, skipping weeks, or cancelling a membership, so very few emails or calls are required, and delivery is contactless.
“We make an effort to personalize things as much as possible and help people feel part of the local business,” he says. “We include a list of the local farms that provided ingredients each week, and subscribers receive a handwritten card with a box of Madison Chocolate in their fifth week.”
Working with the UW-Madison Small Business Development Center (SBDC)
Marrone bootstrapped the business at first, and in 2022, he decided to switch from renting space in Madison to buying a building as a future permanent home for Isthmus Eats. He knew he’d need support securing funding, and that’s when he began working with the UW-Madison Small Business Development Center (SBDC).
“I met with my banker at Summit Credit Union and said, ‘I’m looking at buying a building,’ and they suggested pursuing an SBA loan and recommended talking with Chris Gruneberg at the SBDC for help with that process,” Marrone says. “Ireached out and worked with Chris and Anne Inman to write my business plan and financial projections. I took that to Summit and the SBA and got the loan.”
Marrone says the SBDC was very helpful and that Gruneberg and Inman were “easy to work with, knowledgeable, and very responsive.”
Growing the business
Isthmus Eats has expanded since its launch, and after four months in its new building, further growth is under way.
“My two big goals of getting our own space were to customize our kitchen spaces and the layout of the building and optimize efficiency,” Marrone says. “A big process improvement was in the area of meal kit delivery.”
Isthmus Eats meal kits are delivered Mondays and Tuesdays, with five to 10 delivery drivers, loading up orders, delivering them, and returning to load more orders and go back out, all day long. The new building has an indoor garage that holds four to six vehicles at a time, so drivers can drive in, get the bags from a cart, and drive out, which is very convenient in Madison’s cold winters.
Increased building capacity is also allowing Isthmus Eats to expand their “heat and eat” and prepared meals.
“Our previous capacity only allowed us to do one of those per week, but here in Middleton, we’re expanding those offerings to offer two each week, to start,” Marrone says. “Customers love heat and eat meals, and people want more of that.”
Isthmus Eats is also offering more marketplace products, like dessert kits, breakfast and lunch items, cold pressed juices, cheeses, coffee, and tea.
“That’s an added benefit for customers,” Marrone says. “Some people get a dozen eggs from our marketplace every week. Salads are popular, and so are local meats.”
Marrone says Isthmus Eats’ freshness, limited packaging, and support of the local economy sets the business apart from its national competitors.
“We support our local ecosystem, from buying ingredients locally to hiring local employees,” he says. “Our taxes stay in our community. The biggest thing is the fact that we deliver meals in reusable insulated tote bags, with reusable ice packs.”
Marrone adds that Isthmus Eats’ proprietary software platform allows customers to manage more online, with the convenience that brings.
“It’s easier for them to manage their meal choices, and there are fewer overhead costs for us to manage our 5,000-6,000 meals a week because of the heavy lifting our software does. And our prices are competitive and cheaper than many national meal kits.”
Supporting the local community
Isthmus Eats employees 16 part-time and 14 full-time employees. Full-time employees receive a health insurance stipend, a 401(k) option with matching, and three weeks of paid vacation. All employees receive heavily discounted (75% off) Isthmus Eats meal kits.
“I appreciate being able to take care of our local staff, and I take pride in being able to offer decent pay with benefits,” Marrone says. “I also value supporting local farms and businesses when we source food and goods, including printing and chocolate from Madison Chocolate Company. That’s a service for our customers.”
At 13,000 square feet, Isthmus Eats’ building is larger than the business needs. They built out three commercial kitchens–two for Isthmus Eats, and a third shared kitchen that they rent to small food startup businesses.
“That’s an added community benefit for our Madison food ecosystem, because shared kitchen space is very limited here, and food trucks are required to have commercial kitchens,” Marrone says. “I’d like to see us diversify who owns real estate in the city and grow the food business community.”
The building also has a multi-purpose “business development” room, in which local food businesses are welcome to hold meetings, gather for educational events, and even use a food photography station. Marrone plans interactive events, like tips and tricks from a professional food photographer.
What’s Next
Isthmus Eats primarily relies on word of mouth for marketing and growth, though Marrone says he’s dabbled in most forms of paid marketing. He does minimal online advertising, in the form of paid Google and Meta ads, but he spends less than one percent of revenue on marketing.
He plans to focus his energy on optimizing the process to maintain an excellent meal kit service for customers, with prices as low as possible and adding customers, employees, and more delivery fleet members.
“By design, this business will never be a national business–we are a Madison-based company, and we serve most of Dane County,” Marrone says. “We could expand beyond our current radius, and we’ll grow our meal kit and prepared meal offerings as we see fit, per demand.”