The Rise of the Home-Delivered Healthy Meal Service

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By Angela Ciroalo |

Sharon Baron found herself eating too much sugar and as a result feeling uncomfortable. She decided she wanted to start eating healthier, but with four children and a full-time job she was not sure how she would do it.
Earlier this year Baron discovered The Healthy Palate in Little Silver, a new restaurant that offered healthy meals with ingredients chosen to decrease inflammation and improve health.
But what Baron found to be most enticing was that The Healthy Palate offered home-delivered meals.
Jennifer Asfar, founder of The Healthy Palate, offers individual home-delivered meals, meal plans and cleanses up to 30 days long. Customers choose the amount, types and size of the meal based on their goals.
Families, single adults, students and working professionals are finding it difficult to prepare healthy meals and maintain a well-balanced diet amidst daily responsibilities and are growing interested in the concept of home-delivered healthy meals.
Chef and proprietor of Deliboy Delivery of Old Bridge Josh Gryvatz recognized the opportunity for his business after his wife purchased food from a home delivery meal service.
After eating the meal, Gryvatz and his wife Marsha were not satisfied. “The food was OK. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t outstanding either,” he said. “It occurred to me that this company was really selling convenience first and food second.”
Gryvatz soon realized that with his experience and background of working in the kitchen of his family-owned deli and catering business, he could create his own meal delivery service.
Deliboy Delivery offers customized meals with the option to add soups, salads, snacks and cold pressed juice from local business partners and offer delivery throughout Monmouth and Ocean counties. Meal options include a list of a proteins, vegetables and starches to choose to from; meals range from $8 to $14. While Gryvatz does not claim to sell health food he makes an effort to offer food that is unprocessed and homemade.
For those seeking meals geared towards health, weight loss, or improved body composition, owner and founder Jamie Giovinazzo created Eat Clean Bro in Freehold.
“I saw the way proper nutrition and diet could transform the body and I was fascinated by the entire concept that simply preparing meals could completely change the way I looked and felt,” he said.
The idea for this came about years ago when a fellow gym patron asked what he was eating to make him look so fit.
The next comment changed Giovinazzo’s life. “Can you cook for me?” he asked Giovinazzo.
Ten years later, several business attempts and failures, Giovinazzo is now offering freshly made, pre-portioned, healthy meals delivered to people’s homes throughout New Jersey and parts of New York.
Eat Clean Bro meals vary from $8.50 to $12.50 and include a variety of options including chicken, beef, seafood, turkey and vegetarian options. The meals can be customized or chosen from the different options listed on the website. Also available are meals that are considered “clean” or less than 400 calories.

The Paleo Pancake from Paleo Box Meals.

Rudy D’Ambrisi launched his own meal delivery service in Long Branch, Paleo Box Meals, to create the opportunity for others to eat healthy on a Paleolithic diet, which focuses on vegetables, fruits, nuts, roots and meat.
“I noticed the older I got the more I needed to watch what I put in my body,” D’Ambrisi said. “I started meal prepping for myself and over the next few weeks my body started changing, my moods were better and no more midday naps.”
D’Ambrisi realized that while spending Sunday afternoons cooking didn’t seem to bother him, it was an inconvenience for others.
With a passion to share his newly discovered lifestyle with friends and family, D’Ambrisi started to meal prep for others.
Today the meal delivery service ships meals across the Eastern United States area using FedEx shipping.
“All meals are flash-frozen,” D’Ambrisi explained, “locking in nutrients and preserving flavor, so spoilage is never an issue.”
Pre-fixed and customized meals range in price up to $13.50, shipping not included.
“Our company is geared toward the everyday person looking to live a healthier lifestyle, but is short on time or not sure what to eat,” D’Ambrisi said. “All of our meals are made clean and from whole ingredients, nothing comes from a jar.”
In an effort to meet the needs of busy families and students in particular, Michael Soanes created Red Wagon Meals, a meal delivery service offering all natural food and snacks delivered to schools, camps and sports organizations for active children.
Red Wagon Meals delivers throughout the Monmouth County area to participating schools and organizations.
“I’ve come to realize parents want better food options for their children but they are not always available and even affordable,” Soanes said. “Red Wagon Meals solves both of those problems with our nutritious, affordable and convenient meals and snacks.”
The average price of snacks are $2 and meals are $6.
Asfar of The Healthy Palate began her business to help those seeking to improve their diet, lose weight and increase energy levels.
She began her career as a private chef for families and later found herself at a yoga retreat where she was introduced to vegan food and a more peaceful way of life.
Asfar began to offer group cleanses, create healthy food, and serve as an “eating psychologist” to improve people’s relationship with food. “Many people are suffering with weighing and measuring their food and don’t actually enjoy their meals because they are so consumed with the calories and portions,” she said.
As a result Asfar empowers her clients to eat nutritious meals where calorie counting and portion control is not necessary.
“I wanted the client to feel when they were satisfied and actually enjoy the taste and quality of food in each mouthful,” she said.
Asfar’s journey led her to open The Healthy Palate where she offers a variety of cuisines with a focus on healthy, nutrient-dense meals including raw, vegan, vegetarian and paleo, without any gluten, dairy or red meat.
Home delivered meal plans include one entrée per day for $19 or two entrées per day. Three and five day cleanses are also available for those seeking to lose weight or reset their diet.
“I feel really great after I eat the food,” Natacha Mimaud of Rumson said of The Healthy Palate’s home-delivered meals. “I have tried a million meal delivery services and her food is different. There is nothing like it.”
Mimaud also enjoys coming home and serving a healthy meal to her family without having to plan, prepare and or go to a store to purchase anything.
“There are many active ‘on-the-go’ families who don’t have time to prepare healthy, yummy meals every weeknight,” said Red Bank resident and mother of two and Deliboy Deliveries customer Carey Balogh. “Delivery services give nutritional options to parents and you don’t have to feel guilty about cooking dinner every night.”


This article was first published in the May 18-25, 2017 print edition of The Two River Times.