Furloughed from the Covid-19 shutdown, Katie Easton began working out regularly and prepping meals for her family. Chats at the gym and shared pictures of her meals online brought a wave of people begging to pay Easton for her unofficial cooking services.
“When I was working (full-time), meal prepping, eating health and juggling everything was so hard for me,” Easton said. “I just thought, I have an opportunity to help people here.”
Her intended pandemic side hustle, using Google Forms for order requests, quickly turned to a full-blown business called Get Dished. Quickly, Easton needed additional employees and a website to keep up with orders.
In the last year, Easton’s team of nine employees has moved from one shared kitchen space to a church kitchen to fulfill orders while looking for its official storefront space.
Easton said she has secured a lease and commenced work on her first official location in the Old Marco’s Pizza across from Sea Jax Tavern in Kettering. The store is expected to open in March of 2022.
The location will offer pickup and delivery for entrees, breakfast and snack items and meal kits. Once her team settles in their new location, Easton will begin offering a grab-and-go service for locals to pop in and grab non-pre-ordered meals and snack items such as their popular protein and energy balls.
The average price range for Get Dished products from snack items to entrees ranges between $6 and $10.50. Meal kits are $10 per serving.
Get Dished is not a subscription commitment service and items are regularly cycled to keep their small weekly menu unique. The menu includes some substitute or exclusion options for vegetarians and people who require gluten-free or dairy-free items. Easton said she intends to expand menu offerings at the new location.
"I think a lot of people struggle to find fast and convenient (food options)," Easton said. "But we also don't want to eat our entire day’s worth of calories just in that one meal. So, I'm hoping that by adding on easy grab-and-go type meals, we'll provide somewhere else that customers can come in and grab some things."
Easton estimated Get Dished is averaging sales between 250 to 300 containers or individual portions per week. Her goal for the next few months is to grow sales back to their pre-summer numbers and beyond as both their temporary and new spaces allow higher order capacity.
As Easton’s business settles into a new city, she will be adding new services and additional staff. She intends to slowly accumulate small partnerships with local businesses to showcase and sell their products in a portion of the storefront within the next year or two.
Get Dished
Founded: 2020
Owner: Katie Easton
Employees: 9
Website: https://get-dished.com/
Service: Meal prep and meal kit service
