Snap Kitchen adds direct shipping of prepared food to millions of homes

Venturing out of its sales markets in Texas and Philadelphia, Snap Kitchen on Monday announced that it would start directly shipping its prepared food to 15 states and major metro areas.

Snap, founded in Austin in 2010 to target health-conscious consumers, expanded to Philadelphia in 2016, opening a commissary kitchen in the city’s Kensington neighborhood that supplies six brick-and-mortar locations from Malvern to Fishtown for conventional walk-in business as well as home delivery via services such as Postmates and Grubhub. Snap previously operated out of Chicago before closing its last store there last year.

The new direct shipping allows for overnight delivery via FedEx to a potential audience of 80 million people at the outset, including, including Baltimore, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma City, Pittsburgh, San Antonio, and Washington, D.C., said Jon Carter, the company’s new chief executive.

Customers, encouraged to use a subscription service, can build a six- or 12-meal “Box with Benefits” from 36 menu options priced from $3.99 to $12.99, including best-sellers such as bison quinoa hash and turkey chili.

The menu is sectioned into categories such as paleo, Whole 30, low carb, and high protein. The meals can be delivered within two days of ordering and arrive ready to eat.

Carter, who was Snap’s chief digital officer before his promotion earlier this year, called direct shipping “an extension of the evolution of the business. … We’re moving in the direction of going where the consumer is.”

Since Snap’s founding, he said, customers are more comfortable ordering food online, adding that no new stores are due to open in 2019.

Snap is unrelated to Philadelphia-based Snap Custom Pizza.