Hunger for success helps dream come true

SNOHOMISH, Wash. — When they started, Tina Kuna and Stephanie Allen would wash dishes into the wee hours of the morning, planning how they would grow their fledgling frozen-meal business.

In February, their company — Dream Dinners — provided more than 500,000 sit-down meals to families in 15 states. In 2004, they grew their revenues by 50 percent, going from $4 million to $6 million. They’re on track to increase revenue by another 50 percent in 2005, and they’re aiming at spreading out from 60 to 150 stores. They’re even writing a book on how to bring families together over dinners.

“Never did we think it would happen in this short of time,” Kuna said. “Never in our dreams.”

The business has its roots in the “girls’ night” events Allen used to throw for her friends.

Allen’s background is in catering. The problem was, business was going so well, she never had time to cook for her family. To compensate, she got herself into the habit of once a month taking a day to fix a month’s worth of meals that she could stick in the freezer, then cook and eat later.

Her friends liked the idea, so she invited them to join her. “We’d have girls’ night out, once a month.”

They’d put together meals and share some jokes. And in those nights, with music and laughter and conversation, the idea for a business was born. Allen called Kuna, a friend with a business background, and they launched Dream Dinners in an Everett commercial kitchen.

The secret to their success so far is simple, Allen said — helping women answer the question, “Mom, what’s for dinner?”

“It’s the ultimate question,” Allen said. “It’s just this central thing in a woman’s mind.”

In response, Dream Dinners customers can choose from a rotating menu of up to 12 meals they’ve prepared in advance in the company’s commercial kitchens.

Dream Dinners franchise operators do the slicing and dicing, and direct the customers in putting the meals together — either in baking pans or in freezer bags. They also give instructions on how to cook the meals later.

Menus typically include a couple of chicken dishes, a couple of meat dishes and something very “kid-friendly,” Allen said. March choices included baked Thai chicken in a mild coconut curry sauce, Yankee pot roast, chicken Florentine and meatball hoagies.

“We are not gourmet,” Kuna said. “We are family, healthy, nutritious meals.”

The cost is about $200, but the payoffs are priceless, the women said. The service allows working moms to prepare home-cooked meals with a minimum of fuss and mess.

The meals themselves are healthier than fast food or takeout, and the three sit-down dinners they enable each week are good for a family’s emotional health, Allen said.