By LAUREN HALLIGAN
Features Editor and
CHRIS SURPRENANT
Arts Editor
Do you find yourself hungry? Dining hall already closed? Hate talking on the phone? Too lazy to go out?
Mealeo, an online food-ordering service caters to the 21st century college student. No longer do you have to pick up the phone and be put on hold by someone in a busy restaurant kitchen, risking order inaccuracy and probable dissatisfaction.
Chief Meal Giver and Founder of Mealeo Blake Hanan, 30, found a solution to the 21st century college student’s meal-obtaining hardships.
A charitable business, company name comes from their “meal for meal” program in which they donate the cost of one meal to the Regional Food Bank for every meal ordered through their service. The “e-o” is short for the electronic/easy ordering aspect of the business.
Shunning corporate traditions Mealeo has developed unique titles for its employees. Each title incorporates the word “meal,” such as Meal Marketeer Dean Leber. These titles are meant to invite inquiries about the company and shows their relaxed and innovative approach to business. “We’re all very important to the company, so our titles reflect that,” said Hanan. “We’re real people.”
“It’s very forward thinking,” said Leber. A 24-year-old Saint Rose business graduate, Leber creates unique promotions for Mealeo customers. He strives to appeal to the college-aged, tech-savvy demographic in his campaigns. “We want to appeal to people in front of a computer.”
Hanan, originally from Troy, worked as a pharmaceutical sales representative, a job at which he would constantly order food for business meetings. Spending 50% of his time amidst the stacks of paper menus floating around his car and work space ordering food, Hanan thought, “What if there was a way to go home at night, check my emails, and order food for the week?” It occurred to him that maybe there was an easier way to order food, and he started creating what he referred to as an “online food court.”
After 14 months of planning and consideration with Hanan’s brother and business partner Taylor Hanan, 32, Mealeo was launched in 2009. Both brothers were business graduates of Siena College.
In 2011, the brothers had the idea of incorporating charity into their business after reading Start Something that Matters by Blake Mysockie, creator of TOMS shoe company. Like TOMS, Mealeo created the meal-for-meal program to support a worthy cause. Depending on the restaurant, there is sometimes $1 processing fee to offset the cost of the charitable donation.
One of the greatest obstacles Mealeo faced getting off the ground was restaurants resisting innovation. After Hanan signed his first business, Mr. Fuji, the website went live in July of 2009, a day Hanan clearly remembers. As with any new innovation, Hanan said, “It’s just getting people to give it a shot and trust the system.”
Hanan said “95% of our value is to help the mom-and-pops,” and help them compete with the chain restaurants who may already have similar online ordering services. “We like to help independents, and they do best with us,” he said.
In the area Mealeo now has close to 300 participating restaurants. Nationally, that number totals to over 600. Although the company stretches the nation, one of Mealeo’s greatest values is benefiting local business and charities, no matter what corner of the country.
“Our competition mostly focuses in bigger cities,” said Hanan, mentioning only one local competitor, which was recently bought out by national company GrubHub.
Mealeo’s “homegrown” aspect, as Leber referred to it, is what sets them apart from their competitors.
“All we do is help the community,” Hanan said, through supporting the local businesses, food banks, and hungry couch-ridden college students.
Mealeo’s point-and-click approach has made it easier and incredibly relevant to their target demographic. When a person orders through their site, they select the restaurant, the desired meal, specify any special instructions, then pay and tip online via credit or debit card. There is also no chance of getting put on hold.
Gone are the days when the customer must specify three times “half pepperoni, half-sausage.” Once the order is completed, the restaurant receives a printout of the order, as well as receipt that is sent to the customer’s email for a record. Mealeo’s service eliminates waiting time and miscommunication. It is spelled out in black and white that accuracy and satisfaction are made possible.
Mealeo not only benefits the customer, but businesses as well. At one point, restaurant owners once had to fear prank orders, Mealeo acts as a safety net. Orders will only be placed to the restaurant once the customer has paid online, eliminating the possibility of the “1,000 eggroll” phone call. Business owners then, in this sense, save time, money, and energy.
Mealeo never actually touches food orders. It is the restaurant that does the deliveries. Mealeo just makes the ordering process simpler. The site acts as the liaison between customers and businesses. Mealeo only asks that that the customer set up an account with them that only includes an email address and a phone number in case of an issue with the order. Within the user’s account, Mealeo saves every order the customer places, allowing for quick reordering of personal favorites.
“Everybody’s on the Internet,” said Hanan. He also took into consideration the anxiety people have about talking on the phone when ordering food, language barriers, and the general lack of energy that plagues the current generation.
“Nobody wants to talk to anybody,” said Hanan, aware of the modern-day aversion to telephone conversations.
An ever-improving endeavor, an iPhone application will also be launched in upcoming weeks to make mobile food orders even easier than the company already makes it. An Android application is also in the works, and should be launched this summer. Within the next few months they will also be offering PayPal as another payment option.
With this mobile application, Hanan joked that students can order their food ahead of time during class and have it hot and ready by the time they get back to their dorm.
Many local restaurants such as Bomber’s Burrito Bar, Capital Q Smokehouse, and Shogun have the Mealeo order form right on their websites, Shogun being one of the most popular.
Shogun owner Frank Lee said that their partnership with Mealeo is working well. “It’s bringing more business to our restaurant,” Lee said, noting that “their customer service is great.”
Familiar with the return rate of Mealeo customers, Hanan said, “90% try it out and they love it.”
