“Putting quality food in your body helps you be the best version of you.
Other partnerships include Robert Vargas, a Los Angeles-based muralist, and Nikki Sixx, bassist for rock band Mötley Crüe, and professional cellist Mikala Schmitz.
The company’s initial brand ambassadors include Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner, race car driver Danica Patrick and pro skateboarder Elliot Sloan. It’s a partner of the Anaheim Ducks and has its name on one of the Zambonis at Honda Center. The company counts its share of local and notable sponsorships. With a projected compound annual growth rate of 17.15% that market is expected to reach $11.3 billion by 2027, according to BrandEssence research.Ĭompared to brands like Blue Apron and Hello Fresh, which cater to the meal prep delivery service market, Fresh N Lean is “one step up the convenience chain,” since their meals arrive at customer doorsteps with no-prep necessary, Thomas Asseo said. The ready-to-eat meal delivery market totaled $3.7 billion in 2020. The company is currently working with Jump Rope Innovation, a Hillsdale, N.J.-based marketing consulting firm whose clients include Nature’s Bounty Inc., Lipton and Aramark Corp. (NYSE: ARMK) among others. “Once we understand what consumers are looking for and how we can help them, the better we can design our brand, product and service around that.” While at Johnson & Johnson, “one of the things I learned was really putting the consumer in the center,” he said. In his first step to help elevate the Fresh N Lean brand and grow the ready-to-eat meal delivery market, Meyers is prioritizing market research.
“The chance to take all I’ve learned from working on some of the world’s most well-known health brands to help build Fresh N Lean into a megabrand is an exciting one,” Meyers said. Meyers, who joined the team last November, is eager to help people live “healthier, better lives” by drawing on his experience in developing markets to further grow the meal delivery service. “Lee has a background in brand management, a real understanding of audiences and market research and a lot of classic marketing training that we perhaps lacked and needed,” Thomas Asseo said. and has worked with megabrands such as Neutrogena, Listerine, Splenda, Aveeno and Coach.ĭuring the company’s search for a CMO who could help build its brand, Meyers-with his marketing experience and passion for healthy living-emerged as the perfect fit, according to the Asseos. Meyers counts over 18 years of marketing experience at Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc. “We’re always trying to find good people for our creative and manufacturing teams,” she said.Īs part of their plan to take the company to the next level, the Asseos recently made a notable hire: naming Lee Meyers as its first chief marketing officer. When asked if the company is currently hiring, Laureen Asseo said, “always.” “We’re in a space that’s objectively underpenetrated and the players in it are spending lots of marketing dollars and giving lots and lots of discounts to a narrow audience,” he said of the company’s competitors, which include Batavia, Ill.-based Factor and New York City-based Freshly.įood giant Nestlé in 2020 bought Freshly in a nearly $1.5 billion deal, factoring in over $500 million in potential earnouts.įresh N Lean is currently privately funded, and officials have declined to comment on future plans for raising additional capital, or potentially going public. It’s a “very lofty” goal, but achievable, according to Thomas Asseo. Part of that growth is due to a sizeable new production facility scheduled to come online this summer in Las Vegas, which will more than double the company’s headcount to over 1,000, and eventually allow for a quadrupling in output.įresh N Lean has its eyes on expanding beyond the Western U.S., with an aim to become a household name across the country. More’s in store for the privately held company, founded in 2010 by Laureen Asseo when she was 18 years old.Ĭompany executives-Laureen Asseo serves as co-CEO alongside her brother, Thomas Asseo-tell the Business Journal they forecast a nearly 40% bump in business this year, with projections for $170 million in revenue for 2022. 2 among the fastest-growing private large businesses in OC last year, based on two-year revenue growth, according to Business Journal data.
Ready-to-eat meal delivery service Fresh N Lean has been one of Orange County’s breakout businesses the past few years.īoosted by pandemic-driven interest in food delivery services, and an increased focus on healthy eating, the Anaheim-based company-which offers a variety of breakfast, lunch and dinner meals that are designed to be heated up in a matter of minutes-saw revenue surge to about $119 million last year, up 35% from roughly $88 million in 2020, and nearly triple the $40 million it earned in 2019.