The California chain, as we all are probably well aware by now, is known for offering gourmet foods with a focus on quailty and convenience, at very low prices, often under its own label. Instead of producing all of the products themselves, they work closely with national or global brands that meet their quality standards to get lower prices for shoppers. One of the reasons that this strategy works so well is that the stores have a wide variety of items, but a very limited choice in each category, so once a product makes it into the store, it will not face much, if any, competition for sales. Many products are packaged to serve two or four, making them ideal for busy families or couples.

If rumors can be believed, the company is planning more than one Atlanta location to follow this first store, as well.

Easy meal prep is hot right now. By this, I am referring to the make-and-freeze dinner businesses that are thriving all across the US. With names like Dream Dinners, Super Suppers, My Girlfriend's Kitchen, Supper Thyme USA, What's for Dinner and Dinner by Design, all appeal to the "busy family demographic, where people want to have home cooked meals but don't necessarily feel that they have the time to do it themselves. These businesses offer kitchens with lots of partially assembled meals and ingredients that you can put together in combinations that your family will like. Typically, meals are prepared for a week or two in advance and everything can be frozen. Heating instructions (and any other cooking suggestions, if needed, are included.

The trend is so popular that it is starting to spread out of the US. In London, a chain called Dinners Made is springing up and gaining popularity with those who are looking for food to make in advance and freeze, and also with those who want to entertain and don't have time (or perhaps the ability) to cook everything from scratch without some assistance. Using Dinners Made means that the recipes are included, prep is done and cleanup is taken care of, as they are at every similar easy meal prep shop. Combining the convenience of working in the store with below-restaurant prices, a flexible menu and fresh ingredients, it's not hard to see why the idea is spreading so rapidly.

Make and take meal assembly stores are on the up-rise with dozens of chains, franchises, and stand alone stores around the country. These are basically commercial kitchens with changing monthly menus where you pay a fee and they supply the food and recipes.You assemble the dish and they cook it for you, and/or chill or freeze it so you can take them home. During the next week or two you can heat them up for your families dinner as a fast, healthy, and tasty alternative to having to cook from scratch every night of the week.

I interviewed last week to work at one local place, Let's Dish, so I could find out if I wanted to open a franchise myself. The photo is of their Chicken with Cranberry Chutney, one of their menu items. Another store nearby, Sip and Supper announced their opening a few days ago with their unique idea of pairing wines and premium beer to go with their meals. Then, in the past few days several articles hit the papers.

For the next few years make and take meals are going to be big stuff. The prices vary but they tend to be cheaper than ordering out, but not as inexpensive as shopping yourself. If time is short, but you can spare a half a day every week or so, they can be good options for putting real meals on your family's table. They may not be for everyone, but I say why not check them out, whether to use as a time-saver, or even to open your own franchise. If anyone has tried them please let me know what you think.

The butter slicer we saw a couple of days ago might be helpful when you're baking and are trying to cut off just the right amount for your recipe, but its not the most practical tool to have around when you just want to butter your toast. The One Click Butter Cutter is somewhat unnecessary if you own a knife, but is a useful gadget in its own way, not to mention that it's fun to use. With the push of a button, it dispenses one standard "pat" of butter - slightly less than 2/3 tsp, so you get 5 pats per tablespoon of butter. You can store a stick of butter in the butter cutter in the refrigerator, so it is always ready to go.

The gadget could come in handy at breakfast or when you're cooking and need to grease the pan, just for sheer convenience. In addition, it is a great way to consistently use portion control with butter, since you know exactly how much you're going to get from each slice without having to measure it out yourself.

[via book of joe]

"Big soda" has been blamed for the obesity epidemic, but now they are trying to launch an even more insidious plan on the public: they want people to stop brewing coffee at home and buy prepacked, ready-made coffee drinks instead. And by "they", I mean Pepsi, the company that partners with Starbucks to put out bottled frappuccinos. Tracey Doucette, who runs the branch of the company that handles the partnership, said that their plan "is about converting users from the coffee form they have today to a new form that is ready to drink."

Many consumers welcome such a change, remarking that it would be faster and "less work."

The worst part of this is that studies have shown that consumers do not want to buy black coffee in a can, or coffee with minimal added sugar and cream. They want sugary "treats" - and by trying to make that the standard for coffee in the country, the companies really do seem to be promoting poor nutrition, in addition to the eradication of coffee as we know it.

I like my hamburger and hot dog buns to be lightly toasted when possible. Usually, I will simply open them up and toss them onto the grill while the dogs cook. If I'm not grilling, I just eat the buns plain. I have never put a hot dog bun into the microwave to attempt to achieve a "bakery-fresh" texture and, even if I did so, I would certainly not put the hot dog in the bun before microwaving it. In my experience, microwaving does nothing to improve the texture of bread and having an unheated hot dog in it would help even less.

As such, I fail to see the appeal of Oscar Meyer's newest product: Fast Franks. Three hot dogs are packaged in buns and, when you're read to eat, you just put the whole thing in the microwave. Oscar Meyer says that Fast Franks are "mouthwatering to imagine." I'm imagining, and I have to disagree. 

I always considered beans on toast to be an easy, but satisfying meal to make. I mean, you open a tin of beans, warm them up in the microwave (or on the stove, if you want to be fancy) while you toast a slice of bread and then spoon some beans onto the toast. I wasn't one for adding butter to the toast, too, but that is certainly a popular option. The point is that beans on toast is a two-component meal and it looks like two was one too many for Heinz, since they have compacted it into a pre-made frozen food, much like a bean-filled pop tart.  It's currently being tested in New Zealand and, if it enjoys success there, it will be treated to a wider release.

Somehow, I think I'll still be able to cobble together this dish on my own, but I suppose if you're really in a hurry....

After the mishaps with the Wolfgang Puck self-heating lattes, I am a little leery of any packaged coffee that makes itself. At least JavaVoo uses the microwave instead of a potentially explosive internal heating device.

JavaVoo uses a patented "pressure brewing" process in which water is forced through a filter of organic coffee grounds during a quick, 2-minute trip in the microwave. The empty water bottle, included in the package and upended on the top during brewing, is removed and disposed of once the drink is made, allowing the user to drink right from the cup. In addition to being able to brew plain coffees, the company has developed flavored latte drinks, which include milk/cream and sweetener, and non-coffee beverages, like spiced chai tea and cinnamon cider. JavaVoo premiered at the Fancy Foods Show this month in Chicago and seemed to be very well received, both because it is convenient and organic, hitting two hot-button trends with one product.

The San Francisco Chronicle did a taste test of 9 store brands of prepopped, bagged popcorn that they found around the Bay Area. While microwave popcorn doesn't really take that long to make, the bagged stuff offers even more convenience and instant gratification. Not to mention the fact that opening a bag of it will not leave your kitchen smelling like popcorn for the next 24 hours. The Chronicle's criteria? They looked for flavor and appearance, but the most important quality for the popcorn to have was crunch. If it wasn't crispy, it wasn't worth eating, and not all the brands stacked up. Their top two picks were Whole Foods 365 Organic and O Organics, which is the Safeway store brand. Following the top brands were Erin's (from Andronico's market), Bearitos Lite (from Rainbow) and Trader Joe's. The other four finishers? Let's just say that if the taste tester didn't want them, neither do you.

Though it may seem as though the food processing industry is constantly trying to improve on nature, twisting it into new and more appealing forms, sometimes it turns out that they are not trying to improve on it as much as they are trying to help it compete with the ever growing range of packaged products. With consumers asking for more natural and more organic products, it would seem that they would turn back to old standbys, like nature's single-serving snack: the apple. The problem with the apple is that it is not as easy to eat as a bag of chips, there's a low "munchability" factor that would drive you to reach for more. Today's consumers are used to having a product go straight from the package to their mouth, without having to pick it apart - or bite off pieces a bit at a time. Packaging Nature's finest into a convenient, ready to eat form takes more work that you would think, despite the fact that apples come off the tree ready to eat. The New York Times Magazine did a great job chronicling the fascinating development of the prepackaged, non-browning apple slice. No longer will modern snackers have to contend with slicing, disposing of cores or trying to avoid the previously inevitable browning of their flesh because almost every store now carries the fruits, perfectly preserved and ready to finally be eaten.

With drive-thru service now accounting for up to 70% of fast food sales, the mind boggles to hear that companies are trying to speed up their drive thru service. One method of speeding up service is to route calls to call centers - instead of simply receiving them inside the restaurant over a speaker or radio - to increase accuracy. Companies have found this to be relatively effective, particularly in areas where their employees have limited English skills. The call centers enter the menu items onto a central computer, which transmits the order directly into the restaurant's computers. Another strategy is to replace the traditional written menu board with a photo illustrated or digital one, hoping that tempting food imagery will help customers choose their food faster. There are even computer programs that average how much food needs to be cooking at any given moment.