'Shark Tank' Season 11 Episode 23: Salted's food delivery system is what everyone in lockdown needs right now
ABC's 'Shark Tank' is not just about showcasing innovative products and business ideas, but also showing how those ideas could fit into the changing times. Episode 23 of Season 11 presents one such idea that could change the way we dine out.
Meet Jeff Appelbaum, the owner of Salted — a restaurant delivery service that is keeping up with the current global situation. He presented the idea of his food delivery business and how it could redefine the restaurant culture of the future.
Although the episode was filmed much before the coronavirus pandemic hit the world, the idea seems perfect for the present situation of lockdown, where food businesses have resorted to delivery-only services.
The Los Angeles-based Salted serves as an aggregator where it delivers healthy, flavorful, and balanced meals from six different brands. Califlower Pizza, $5 Salad Company, Moonbowls, Ginger Bowls, Thrive Kitchen, and F#ck Gluten provide their meals to Salted, which then delivers to their customers.
Based on the operational concept of cloud kitchen, these brands prepare the meals in their respective kitchen, and then Appelbaum's service enables them to deliver the food to their customers' homes.
Salted also has meal kits called Blue Apron and Plated, which provide customers with a ready-to-cook dish, wherein a prefixed set of ingredients are provided with a 90-minute cooking session. This allows people to enjoy restaurant-like meals at home, and more so in the current situation, where dining out is not an option.
Appelbaum's business is not just apt for the changing lifestyle of the present but could also go a long way in the future. If social isolation becomes a norm in the long run, or at least for some time, then it will overhaul the restaurant culture.
And yet, people would seek good food. Even if the Covid-19 threat had not altered the way people live and eat, Salted still serves the evolved food habits of people where they are looking for more nutritious, calorie-conscious and balanced meals, but without compromising on taste.
The food brands Salted caters to are known to be organic, non-GMO and plant-based (vegan, which also checks off the list for the new generation of fitness-conscious customers.
Appelbaum's aim is to cut down on unnecessary resources that all mainstream restaurants and eateries indulge in that affect the environment and costs. So, quarantine or not, delivery-only food services might be the way to go in the coming days and Salted is paving the way.
The company currently serves the cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco, Columbus and Chicago. Check out all about Salted and what they serve on their business website.