Joanna Parker is the CEO of Yumble. Yumble is the only meal delivery service that empowers kids to plan and pick their meals and get rewarded for eating healthy. The new Yumble offers a solution to a daily challenge faced by parents
everywhere, especially working parents: the obligation to provide nutritionally balanced meals every day that kids will actually eat and enjoy.
Kids can go to www.yumblekids.com, or the new YumbleKids App, to plan their own meals, choosing from Yumble’s carefully curated menus designed specifically for kid appeal. Meals are ordered via a parent-approved ‘shopping cart’ and delivered straight to your door, ready to heat up and eat up. Kids can accumulate points for making smart choices, such as cleaning their plates and trying new things. Points are tracked on a virtual dashboard, and an exciting rewards catalog helps children set their goals.
Yumble initially launched in 2017, and parents immediately embraced the idea. However, many children were less than enthusiastic about eating meals that Mom didn’t make, and they didn’t choose. Rather than helping to ease mealtime tension, it sometimes exacerbated it instead, as parents resented the wastefulness of uneaten pre-paid meals and fretted over the fact that their kids were not getting the nutrition they needed.
In response, the brand consulted with nutritionists, psychologists, teachers, and parents and heard a common refrain: why not involve kids in the process and reward them for every positive step they take? Thus, the new and improved Yumble is based on the concept of “child-led eating,” which empowers children of all ages to make their own healthy choices as they develop and grow. Mealtime tension is lessened as children are less likely to reject a choice, they have made for themselves. Plus, the new Prize Program & Rewards Platform is designed to encourage and
reinforce good behavior, which reflects the Yumble team’s mantra of “rewarding kids for eating well.”
FWM: Tell us about your background and what led you to launch Yumble.
Yumble was born out of my own personal pain point – serving a healthy dinner to my three young children (Stanley 12, Eleanor 10, and Jane 8) was an incessant and deep pain point that I was so frustrated with! It was so important to me that my kids ate well, and more importantly developed a positive relationship with healthy eating, so I knew there had to be a simpler solution. Before founding Yumble, I was an elementary school teacher where I learned quickly the patience and passion kids require. Right after graduating from Columbia University I worked for a few years in Product Development at Macy’s Headquarters.
Yumble was born after my billionth conversation with friends, complaining about how difficult and frustrating it was to get healthy meals on the tables for our kids every single day. I decided to see if anyone else felt this pain point, so I posted anonymously on a Facebook mommy group. When I offered to cook a week’s worth of meals for strangers (no name, no pictures, no menu!) I was bombarded with so many “Yes! Please! Where do I sign up??” that I had to turn some people away. After delivering the first week of meals – based on a menu I had created on my iphone while I was in Vermont since I didn’t anticipate getting so many immediate orders from that single post – I was again overwhelmed with how many customers wanted meals again the next week, and the week after, and the week after.
When my husband, David, saw the immediate interest and traction, he jumped on board. We built a simple website that could process orders, brought on Dan Trieman who had previously built HelloFresh USA from 0 boxes to 100,000 boxes, and very quickly built Yumble into what it is today.
While the idea was born out of my own pain point and sheer need, the inspiration for Yumble really came out of my passion for helping children develop positive, healthy eating habits from a young age. Meal time for kids can be stressful, filled with drama, and unenjoyable. Helping parents avoid this daily negative experience and turning it into a fun, exciting, wholesome one is my passion. I am committed to helping children all across America develop better habits that will last them a lifetime.
FWM: “Yumble isn’t the first kids’ meal delivery service,” Joanna continues, “but we are the first and only one to tackle head-on the problem of kid rejection.
Yumble initially launched in 2017, and parents immediately embraced the idea. However, many children rejected the meals – they weren’t buying into the need quite as much as parents!.
In response, the brand consulted with nutritionists, psychologists, teachers, and parents and heard a common refrain: why not involve kids in the process and reward them for every positive step they take? Thus, the new and improved Yumble is based on the concept of “child-led eating,” which empowers children of all ages to make their own healthy choices as they develop and grow. Mealtime tension is lessened as children are less likely to reject a choice, they have made for themselves. Plus, the new Prize Program & Rewards Platform is designed to encourage and reinforce good behavior, which reflects the Yumble team’s mantra of “rewarding kids for eating well.”
FWM: Yumble is the first and only meal delivery service that empowers kids. Tell us about the Kid-Approved Variety.
Meals are ordered via a parent-approved ‘shopping cart’ and delivered straight to your door, ready to heat up and eat up. Kids can accumulate points for making smart choices, such as eating their veggies and trying new things. Points are tracked on a virtual dashboard, and an exciting rewards catalog helps children set their goals. We are the first and only brand to tackle head-on the problem of kid rejection. Child-led eating is an innovative and powerful idea that will help to improve child nutrition and empower kids to build healthy habits to last a lifetime. As a mother of three and someone who struggled through mealtime both as a kid and now as a parent, I’m excited for the ‘new’ Yumble to be up and running. It’s going to make a big and positive difference in a lot of families’ daily lives, and we can’t wait to hear all about it.
FWM: Are the meals for any kind of diet?
Our menu is designed so that kids with all kinds of allergies and dietary restrictions can enjoy Yumble! We have plenty of gluten free, dairy free, and vegetarian options!
FWM: How does it work?
Kids and Parents can go to www.yumblekids.com to plan their own meals, choosing from Yumble’s carefully curated menus designed specifically for kid appeal.
Yumble’s delicious and nutritious meal plans include a wealth of amazing options kids will love. The more meals are ordered per week, the better the price for each one. And because Yumble understands that life happens, plans can be paused or canceled at any time. The following meal plans are available now:
- 4 meals per week for $9.99 per meal
- 6 meals per week for $8.99 per meal, plus free shipping
- 8 meals per week for $7.99 per meal, plus free shipping
- 12 meals per week for $6.99 per meal, plus free shipping
FWM: Share the Top Favorite Weekly Kid’s Menus.
Kids are treated to a wide range of tasty meals for any time of day, which are perfect for even the pickiest of eaters. Some of the most popular Yumble meals that kids come back for over and over include:
- Turkey Sausage & Eggs – all-natural and gluten-free with over 20g of protein
- Classic Cheese Ravioli – with organic tomatoes in a veggie-packed marinara sauce
- Mac N Cheese & Nuggets Please – with gluten-free, veggie-packed mac-n-cheese
FWM: You launched the YumbleKids App for kids to plan their own meals. What makes this fun for kids?
Yumble, the first and only meal delivery service that empowers kids with the Yumblekids app to plan and pick their meals and get rewarded for eating healthy. That makes it fun for the kids and offers healthy meals making parents happy. The new Yumble offers a solution to a daily challenge faced by parents everywhere, especially working parents: the obligation to provide nutritionally balanced meals every day that kids will actually eat and enjoy.
FWM: Tell us about the Youth Nutrition Advisors on call.
We know that parents have so many questions about nutrition and their children, so each one of our customer service associates is a Certified Youth Nutrition Specialist, so they can answer questions about our meals and plans but also offer suggestions about nutrition and mealtime strategies.
FWM: Your company has exploded to an $8M company since launching in 2017. What is your recipe for success?
Initially launched in 2017, Yumble is a favorite of kids and parents alike. Created by parents and for parents, the one-of-a-kind kids’ meal subscription service designed to take the stress out of planning, prepping, and cooking nutritious meals for children, many of whom are picky eaters. By minimizing the time needed to prepare healthy meals for the kids, Yumble makes it possible for families to spend more valuable time with each other instead. Using all sustainable, regionally sourced, nutritious ingredients, Yumble creates balanced and fun recipes developed just for kids, delivered fresh to your door in a 100% recyclable, refrigerated box.
