scratchDC, a meal prep and delivery service, launched in August 2012. It's "semi-homemade" at it's best! Every day (Monday through Thursday, for now), a different dish is featured. You choose what time you want it delivered, and a bundle with all of the ingredients—chopped, measured, and marinated—arrives at your door. The founder of scratchDC does all the recipe development, cooking (with the help of a prep cook), order management, marketing, and delivery. The food comes wrapped in a box with twine, and each ingredient has its own container.
All you have to do is assemble and cook. I'm super excited about this company!
I recently had the awesome opportunity to interview the founder, Ryan Hansan.
ClarendonMoms.com: Congratulations on your new endeavor! What inspired you to start your business?
Ryan Hansan: Thank you! Starting scratchDC has been a classic (or cliche) example of setting out to fix a problem I faced every day. As a young professional just out of college with a somewhat unpredictable schedule, it was really hard to cook a great meal, especially for two people. First I had to find a recipe with decent reviews, then trek to the grocery store. When I did manage to remember everything I needed, I still had to buy way more than I needed. Why buy a $12 jar of spices I only needed for a 1/4 tsp? Why get a bushel of cilantro when I needed a pinch for a garnish? Cooking at home was expensive and inconvenient, so I thought there had to be a better way. ClarendonMoms.com: There are so many busy Moms and Dads that simply don't have the time to prepare fresh meals for their families. How will scratchDC make a difference in these busy parents lives?
Ryan Hansan: We offer a different meal every night with no subscriptions or minimum orders - so if you just want to cook on Thursday, we've got you covered. We take care of the shopping, chopping, mixing and marinating, then we pack the fresh prepped ingredients with an amazing recipe and deliver them to your door (or office) between 3-8pm within the 15 minute window of your choice. All busy parents really have to do is apply heat and most of our meals take 15-30 minutes from bundle to table!
ClarendonMoms.com: A lot of Moms are currently dieting. Does Scratch DC prepare meals that are more on par with one diet or another? Or can it be catered to those looking to purchase Vegan, Gluten Free, Paleo, etc?
Ryan Hansan: Since we only offer four meal options a week at this point, we try to have something for everyone. We try to have at least 1-2 gluten free, vegetarian or vegan options per week. Many of our meals give customers the ability to customize it to fit their needs - you can sub tofu, or shrimp or even order them vegan.
ClarendonMoms.com: Can you explain a little about how your service works? (i.e. from the time that you create your menu to delivery)
Ryan Hansan: Four meals a week, with a different meal prepped and delivered every day to ensure you're cooking with the absolute freshest ingredients. We post the following week's menu every Friday morning at www.scratchDC.com, and as soon as it goes up, customers can order for one to four nights. Meals for two range in price from $25-$30, including delivery. When customers order, they specify a delivery time for each day they order. Then we show up within 15 minutes of the selected time, hand you the bundle of joy and you get cookin! ClarendonMoms.com: Where is all the magic made? (i.e. Where is your headquarters)
Ryan Hansan: Right now we operate out of a commercial kitchen in National Harbor, MD, but we are just finishing up the purchase of a warehouse in NE DC that we will be building into the scratchDC world headquarters. This will allow us to do a lot of awesome stuff - like offer and deliver beer and wine pairings with the meals!
ClarendonMoms.com: As a chef, who are your biggest influences?
Ryan Hansan: I wouldn't really call myself a chef - in fact I have no formal culinary training - nor does anyone on the team! We're all foodies who know what tastes good and we know how to solve problems. We all truly LOVE food and eat and taste as much as we can and the best bites eventually make their way onto our menus!
ClarendonMoms.com:There are a ton of "Delivery Food Services", what makes Scratch DC stand apart?
Ryan Hansan: Well, there are services that deliver pre-cooked meals that you zap in the microwave, but, come on, thats gross. There are other concepts similar to scratchDC that deliver ingredients, but since they are not local and instead are shipping their products through the mail, the ingredients are not prepped or marinated, you must order 3+ nights of food, there is a ton of wasteful packaging, the food sits on your doorstep all day, you have no idea where the food comes from, theres no local or personal connection, etc, etc. scratchDC saves you time, money, and eliminates wasted food while being as convenient as possible.
ClarendonMoms.com: What is your service area? (Arlington, Alexandria? All of DC? All of Maryland? What cities are covered)
Ryan Hansan: Right now we deliver to most of DC, Arlington and Alexandria and hope to expand to other close-in MD suburbs (Bethesda, Chevy Chase) in the coming months!
ClarendonMoms.com: Are there any specials/packages you will offer for the Holidays?
Ryan Hansan: We'll definitely be doing a Thanksgiving bundle. Details will be up on the website soon!
ClarendonMoms.com: Do you offer "Kid Friendly" items?
Ryan Hansan: Good question! We've actually been testing a couple of "Kid's Meals" that can be added on to the grownup meals. Fun stuff like mini pizzas, mac n cheese, etc but made with fresh, local ingredients. We hope to have these available for sale in the next month!
ClarendonMoms.com:Thank-you very much for your time and consideration. What can you share with the Clarendon Moms Community/Readers that you haven't shared yet with anyone else?
Ryan Hansan: SECRETS!? Well, kids meals have definitely been a secret up to this point, so spread the word!
All you have to do is assemble and cook. I'm super excited about this company!
I recently had the awesome opportunity to interview the founder, Ryan Hansan.
ClarendonMoms.com: Congratulations on your new endeavor! What inspired you to start your business?
Ryan Hansan: Thank you! Starting scratchDC has been a classic (or cliche) example of setting out to fix a problem I faced every day. As a young professional just out of college with a somewhat unpredictable schedule, it was really hard to cook a great meal, especially for two people. First I had to find a recipe with decent reviews, then trek to the grocery store. When I did manage to remember everything I needed, I still had to buy way more than I needed. Why buy a $12 jar of spices I only needed for a 1/4 tsp? Why get a bushel of cilantro when I needed a pinch for a garnish? Cooking at home was expensive and inconvenient, so I thought there had to be a better way. ClarendonMoms.com: There are so many busy Moms and Dads that simply don't have the time to prepare fresh meals for their families. How will scratchDC make a difference in these busy parents lives?
Ryan Hansan: We offer a different meal every night with no subscriptions or minimum orders - so if you just want to cook on Thursday, we've got you covered. We take care of the shopping, chopping, mixing and marinating, then we pack the fresh prepped ingredients with an amazing recipe and deliver them to your door (or office) between 3-8pm within the 15 minute window of your choice. All busy parents really have to do is apply heat and most of our meals take 15-30 minutes from bundle to table!
ClarendonMoms.com: A lot of Moms are currently dieting. Does Scratch DC prepare meals that are more on par with one diet or another? Or can it be catered to those looking to purchase Vegan, Gluten Free, Paleo, etc?
Ryan Hansan: Since we only offer four meal options a week at this point, we try to have something for everyone. We try to have at least 1-2 gluten free, vegetarian or vegan options per week. Many of our meals give customers the ability to customize it to fit their needs - you can sub tofu, or shrimp or even order them vegan.
ClarendonMoms.com: Can you explain a little about how your service works? (i.e. from the time that you create your menu to delivery)
Ryan Hansan: Four meals a week, with a different meal prepped and delivered every day to ensure you're cooking with the absolute freshest ingredients. We post the following week's menu every Friday morning at www.scratchDC.com, and as soon as it goes up, customers can order for one to four nights. Meals for two range in price from $25-$30, including delivery. When customers order, they specify a delivery time for each day they order. Then we show up within 15 minutes of the selected time, hand you the bundle of joy and you get cookin! ClarendonMoms.com: Where is all the magic made? (i.e. Where is your headquarters)
Ryan Hansan: Right now we operate out of a commercial kitchen in National Harbor, MD, but we are just finishing up the purchase of a warehouse in NE DC that we will be building into the scratchDC world headquarters. This will allow us to do a lot of awesome stuff - like offer and deliver beer and wine pairings with the meals!
ClarendonMoms.com: As a chef, who are your biggest influences?
Ryan Hansan: I wouldn't really call myself a chef - in fact I have no formal culinary training - nor does anyone on the team! We're all foodies who know what tastes good and we know how to solve problems. We all truly LOVE food and eat and taste as much as we can and the best bites eventually make their way onto our menus!
ClarendonMoms.com:There are a ton of "Delivery Food Services", what makes Scratch DC stand apart?
Ryan Hansan: Well, there are services that deliver pre-cooked meals that you zap in the microwave, but, come on, thats gross. There are other concepts similar to scratchDC that deliver ingredients, but since they are not local and instead are shipping their products through the mail, the ingredients are not prepped or marinated, you must order 3+ nights of food, there is a ton of wasteful packaging, the food sits on your doorstep all day, you have no idea where the food comes from, theres no local or personal connection, etc, etc. scratchDC saves you time, money, and eliminates wasted food while being as convenient as possible.
ClarendonMoms.com: What is your service area? (Arlington, Alexandria? All of DC? All of Maryland? What cities are covered)
Ryan Hansan: Right now we deliver to most of DC, Arlington and Alexandria and hope to expand to other close-in MD suburbs (Bethesda, Chevy Chase) in the coming months!
ClarendonMoms.com: Are there any specials/packages you will offer for the Holidays?
Ryan Hansan: We'll definitely be doing a Thanksgiving bundle. Details will be up on the website soon!
ClarendonMoms.com: Do you offer "Kid Friendly" items?
Ryan Hansan: Good question! We've actually been testing a couple of "Kid's Meals" that can be added on to the grownup meals. Fun stuff like mini pizzas, mac n cheese, etc but made with fresh, local ingredients. We hope to have these available for sale in the next month!
ClarendonMoms.com:Thank-you very much for your time and consideration. What can you share with the Clarendon Moms Community/Readers that you haven't shared yet with anyone else?
Ryan Hansan: SECRETS!? Well, kids meals have definitely been a secret up to this point, so spread the word!
Ryan Hansan, founder of scratchDC was born and raised in the suburbs of Reston, Virginia. Ryan came to the District to attend American University and never looked back. He was always a major foodie and after graduating from the Kogod School of Business in 2008, he wanted to make amazing meals easy, which lead him to launch scratchDC in August 2012. For more information and to order your first delivery, click here.