The Prep - The canteen from the fridge

The Prep is a young start-up from the food sector. Founded by two friends and work colleagues Merten Wenderoth, Dominic Tschauder and Torben Füller in 2018, the company offers balanced and healthy ready-made meals through their own online shop. The idea came to the founders during their time together as employees at a bank: due to the lack of a canteen, they often had to rely on "unhealthy" fast food from the delivery service or the snack bar around the corner during their lunch break. Gradually, the idea matured to create a healthy and delicious alternative for the microwave. Right from the start, the issue of sustainability was very important, because many ready-made meals from the supermarket are packed in plastic trays and foil and thus pollute the environment.

Healthy food, sustainable packaging

The Prep uses only sustainable, fully biodegradable packaging without plastic. The menu tray, for example, is made of sugar cane with organic lamination. The climate-neutral outer packaging by PackEx, made from renewable raw materials, fits like a glove. Straw fibres are used instead of polystyrene for the refrigerated shipping of the dishes. The Prep also relies on organic quality for the dishes themselves and completely avoids the use of preservatives and flavour enhancers.

Cooking takes place twice a week in an old, listed barn, which was completely rebuilt and modernised especially for this purpose. The menu currently offers a total of 12 different dishes, such as chilli con or sin carne, chicken curry, Italian shrimp pasta or vegan bolognese. Customers always order at least five dishes, which are then sent by express delivery and delivered in 1-3 days.

After concentrating on the B2C market for a long time, the young company is currently trying to gain a foothold in the B2B sector. The target group are companies without their own canteen that want to offer their employees a tasty and healthy alternative. For this purpose, a The Prep refrigerator can be set up and stocked with a selection of delicious dishes. The special feature: The dishes are shock-frozen and can therefore be kept for up to six months. In addition, the process preserves the important nutrients and the consistency of the food.

On one wavelength

The Prep became aware of PackEx through a Facebook ad. The focus on sustainability and flexibility were ultimately the deciding factors for a collaboration, as was the unifying start-up corporate culture. PackEx has been producing the outer packaging for the dishes since the middle of the year - this is a special construction of a cardboard pusher made of International Paper Alaska Plus in a grammage of 255 g/m2.

PackEx thanks you for your trust and looks forward to a continued successful partnership.