Entree Vous Franchisee Opens First Meal Prep Franchise in Rockland, NY

(UnhappyFranchisee.com)  Despite many closings and growing lawsuits in the meal prep kitchen sector of franchising, The Journal News reports that Rockland, NY is home to one of the newest meal assembly kitchen (MAK) franchises:

Village-resident Carolyn Calabria has opened Rockland’s first food-assembly kitchen… Part of the Entrée Vous chain, the business, which opened April 1, is in a small strip mall just off Exit 13 of the Palisades Interstate Parkway….

Calabria financed the start of the business from savings she accumulated during her 21-year career on Wall Street, most recently as a first vice president at Dean Witter. Calabria decided to go out on her own after surviving the attacks on the World Trade Center towers in 2001.

Entrée Vous is one of several national franchises of meal-assembly kitchens…. The Lexington, Ky.-based company has 49 kitchens in 21 states. Let’s Dish, a similar franchise, opened in Scarsdale about two years ago. Super Suppers, another chain, operates an outlet in New Rochelle….

…Consumer interest in food-prep kitchens has slacked a bit in recent years as the idea has become less novel, said food-industry expert Harry Balzer, vice president of the NPD Group.

Still, there is clearly a need for such businesses, Balzer said.

The concept offers the promise of making life easier for people in charge of household meal-making, he said. Those franchises that offer clear time and cost savings are likely to be more successful.

Added Balzer, "Americans will make the decision about whether they think it’s a great value or a great time-saver."

How is it that "experts" like Balzer feed into the hype despite dozens of meal prep kitchens failing for every new one that opens?

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