We’re celebrating 4 years of Heart to Home Meals! Our President, Chris, reflects on the past few years and looks ahead to the future of HTHM in this interview.
What inspired you to open HTHM?
From our experience in Europe, particularly in the UK and Germany, and more recently Canada, we’ve learned that there’s a real desire in people to live independently, and food is a big part of that. We believe that is no different here in the USA. We saw an opportunity to provide great tasting nutritious meals directly to customers’ own homes, and in turn make their lives a little easier.
Why start in Massachusetts?
We felt like it’d be a great place to test out the concept in an area that had a mixture of urban, suburban, and rural communities, so each delivery day is very different from the next. And of course, we are near our Canadian facilities, which makes things a little simpler. It’s also a great place to be. I love this area!
What have been some challenges you’ve experienced?
It’s always challenging setting up a new business, particularly in this space—there’s a lot of home delivery meal providers across the country. There’s always a challenge to show how what you’re offering is different and unique to customers – I believe the team is doing this!
Not long after launching the business the Covid pandemic started. Our business doubled overnight, and we had to find a way to create a safe environment for employees and customers alike. It was a challenging time, but I am very proud of the team for maintaining great levels of service for the customers.
What are you most proud of?
I’m most proud of the team that we’ve been able to form here and the commitment to what we do. We have a real mission here that we’re setting out to achieve. We’ve started small in Massachusetts with bigger and bolder plans in the works, but everyone who has walked through our doors has fully believed in what we do and has a desire to make a difference to those we serve.
What has been your favorite HTHM memory?
It would have to be the first delivery we ever made, which was roughly 4 years ago. I remember the first day we opened the phone lines, and we might’ve had one or two calls. It seems such a long time ago now, but considering we have hundreds of deliveries per week now, looking back at the time when we had our first few deliveries is impactful.
Favorite HTHM meal?
Difficult choice with so many to choose from. I’d go with the Tomato and Herb Glazed Haddock, I think that’s a great meal.
What’s next for Heart to Home Meals?
Plenty of things to come. With regards to expansion, we started in a small area in Massachusetts and are seeking ways to expand through franchising. We’ve done franchising throughout Canada and have 19 outlets that are predominantly franchise owned. We’ve also had franchises in the UK for over 25 years.
We’ve learned a lot over the past few years, and now feel like we are in a good place to bring our service to more people across Massachusetts and beyond.
What message would you like to share with customers?
I’d like to thank them for their loyalty. It’s been a difficult time within the food industry coming out of Covid. We’ve had a particularly difficult time this past year with item availability and our customers have been very patient with us. I can understand the frustrations around out of stock favorites like our meatloaves, which I’m glad to say will be returning soon now that we’ve found a supplier. We have lots of exciting plans to bring better service and better-quality products to customers.
Above all else, I’d like to thank them for choosing Heart to Home Meals.
