Last week, I had the opportunity to sit on a panel at Home Delivery World, alongside leaders from HelloFresh, Albertsons, and Edible Brands — some of the biggest names in grocery and meal delivery.
As the founder of a fast-growing but still nimble company, Vibrant Meals, I expected to walk away from the panel feeling incredibly behind the curve in just about every area of our business. But what surprised me most was how many of the challenges we face — even at a smaller scale — are the same ones these industry titans are navigating.
Here are five themes that stuck with me from our conversation:
1. Real-Time Data Is the New Standard
Whether you’re shipping a single meal to a customer across town or managing hundreds of thousands of weekly deliveries, real-time visibility is no longer optional. Customers expect to know when their order is coming, where it is, and if something goes wrong, they want to know immediately.
At Vibrant, we’ve been working to integrate, or build, lightweight tech solutions that give us clearer insight into fulfillment windows, driver delays, and delivery exceptions. These aren’t just operational upgrades — they’re the foundation for building trust and meeting the ever-increasing expectations of our customers.
2. Cold-Chain Logistics Are a Beast (and They Don't Scale Easily)
If you’re moving fresh food, you’re in the business of temperature, timing, and tight margins. Cold-chain logistics don’t leave much room for error. A single misstep can compromise an entire order — and your brand reputation with it.
Even national players are still figuring this out. For us, operating regionally gives us an edge. We’re fully vertically integrated, from production to distribution, which means fewer handoffs and tighter control from the kitchen to our customers. I was very encouraged when I heard the ‘bigs’ are operating within a 7% margin of error, while we have historically stayed at or below 1%!
3. Small Teams = Big Advantage in Customer Service
This one really hit home during the panel. While larger companies have call centers and layered escalation protocols, we’re still small enough that if a customer calls in with a problem, they’re often speaking directly to someone who has walked through our kitchen that day — in some cases, that could even be me.
That kind of connection is hard to scale, but it's a powerful differentiator. People don’t just want a refund. They want to feel heard, understood, and valued. Being human-first is part of our DNA.
4. Customer Feedback Shouldn’t Sit in a Spreadsheet
Because we’re not bogged down by bureaucracy, we can actually implement customer feedback fast. If someone emails us with a packaging issue or a request for a new menu item, that insight isn’t routed through four departments and several approval chains.
Sometimes it gets fixed that week. And customers notice. They don’t just see a brand that listens — they see a team that moves.
5. Omnichannel Isn’t Just a Buzzword; We Believe It’s the Future of Food
We’re not just a DTC meal delivery company. We have designed and built fully stocked brick-and-mortar locations, in addition to our partner pickup locations, corporate partnerships, and wholesale accounts, all while continuing to offer direct-to-consumer deliveries.
Omnichannel for us means meeting the customer where they are, whether that’s grabbing lunch in-store, subscribing to weekly deliveries, or working with our team to build a plan fitting their macros. The flexibility we’ve built into our model is allowing us to grow smarter, not just bigger or faster.
Final Thought: Being Small Isn’t a Disadvantage — It’s a Superpower
While big brands dominate headlines, it’s the agile, values-driven companies that are often leading innovation at the edge. We can try things. Pivot fast. Serve with heart. And at Vibrant Meals, we’re proving that sometimes being small is exactly what allows us to stick around through thick and thin.