You can now test out Tovala's smart oven and try its meals in person at the startup's pop up shop in Lincoln Park.
Tovala opened its first brick-and-mortar space last weekend at 939 W. Armitage, which lets people sample Tovala-branded meals and other recipes for free. Shoppers can try out the Tovala oven for themselves, and leave the store with the device if they're ready to buy.
The pop up shop will remain open until mid-September, CEO and co-founder David Rabie said.
The idea for the pop up is simple: Tovala's smart oven is an entirely new home kitchen device, and convincing customers it's a worthwhile purchase is sometimes easier when you see it (and taste it) in person.
"Trying the food is so imperative," Rabie said. "We know there's a lot of people that kind of know about us; we’ve got to give them the opportunity to learn more and try it. We figured a pop up in the heart of Lincoln Park, where we know we have a lot of target customers, would be a really interesting test."
While Tovala's device may look like a microwave, it's not quite that simple. Tovala uses a combination of steam heat, baking and broiling to create restaurant-quality meals right from your kitchen counter. The oven scans the barcode of a Tovala-delivered meal, and pulls data from the cloud to know how exactly to cook the meal, switching between the three cooking methods.
The machine retails for $299, and Tovala’s prepared meals cost $12 each, which customers get delivered to their door. Tovala also allows customers to cook meals with their own ingredients, and has a list of recommended dishes people can cook on their own.
Tovala, sometimes referred to as the "Keurig for food," is one of Chicago most ambitious consumer startups and has raised more than $13 million from big-name investors like Tyson Foods, Origin Ventures, Pritzker Group Venture Capital, Valor Equity, Y Combinator and Morningstar Founder Joe Mansueto.
The startup has grown to 34 full-time employees.
