Two Stanford students are combining a fresh business model with a focus on healthy eating in order to deliver nutritious food options to the masses.
Mark Wittman and Marc Manara launched their business, Kincao, on July 31. The food startup delivers healthy lunches to residents and businesses in Campbell and Los Gatos from a commercial kitchen located in Campbell five days a week.
Since its launch, the business has grown steadily and now delivers about 400 lunches per week. The pair is planning to expand their business to San Jose and possibly north of the city in 2014.
Wittman, of Lexington, Ky., and Manara of Voorhees, N.J., a suburb of Philadelphia, met at Stanford while earning dual master's degrees in business administration and science in environment and resources. Wittman graduated in December while Manara will graduate in March.
"We bonded over a shared love of cooking, food and sustainable business models," Wittman said.
They also shared a mutual frustration with the food options around them. Diseases such as obesity and diabetes are becoming increasingly prevalent in the United States, and in many cases, diet is to blame, Manara said.
"There aren't many options for those who want to consume vegetarian or unprocessed foods," he said.
The pair decided to create a delivery-only service because, Manara said, there is a lot of startup cost in creating a traditional restaurant with a storefront, and the success of restaurants is often driven by location.
"Our central kitchen isn't on an exact corner on an exact block where there's a lot of foot traffic, and we can still have a successful business," he said.
The pair weren't sure the business would pan out when they launched the startup last summer.
"Some advice we got is that people say they want healthy food, but when it comes time to buy food, they choose things that aren't healthy," Manara said.
However, Manara says the demand for the meals has been high.
"We've largely proven that that's not been a problem," he said.
Wittman said he doesn't know of any other companies like Kincao in the Campbell area.
"There are a few services like this that are popping up in San Francisco, but they do dinners," Wittman said. "It's a pretty new concept."
There are other startups in the Bay Area that have a direct delivery model, such as Spoon Rocket in Berkeley. However, that startup isn't necessarily focused on healthy foods, Manara said.
"We're much more unique on the healthy food side," he added.
Customers can choose from two options each week: a bento box or a second option that rotates on a weekly basis. Both options include veggies, whole grain and lean protein. The meals have no added sugars, gluten or dairy. The vast majority of ingredients come from organic farms, Wittman said.
Each menu option can be made vegan, where the meat is replaced with a vegan protein. Another option is to make the meals so that they're in line with the new Paleolithic diet, commonly known as the caveman diet, where people consume foods that would be available to those living during the Paleolithic period. In order to make a meal "Paleo style," grains are removed and replaced with more vegetables.
"Meals from us are unquestionably healthy and good for you and also really delicious," Wittman said.
"We try to basically make it so tasty that you don't feel like you're giving anything up to eat a healthy meal," Manara said.
Wittman and Manara have expanded their team to include a chef who attended the Culinary Institute of America in New York, someone to help with food preparation and dish washing and another person to help with delivery.
To place an order, visit kincao.com[1] , put in a food request before 10:30 a.m. and pick a delivery window for when they want the food to arrive. There is no delivery fee.
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