Adam Friden's May 2019 CEO Note | Fit Times by Catered Fit

Saludos Amigos y Amigas,

Farewell April and hello May!

An early happy Cinco de Mayo to all of my “any excuse to get black out drunk on a weeknight taco loving, guacamole crazed comrades”! (By the way, Cinco de Mayo is only celebrated in America and is actually a running joke in Mexico, but cheers to another margarita!) Maybe more importantly than Cinco de Mayo is that this month we also celebrate Mother’s Day. This is the month we honor our Mothers so happy Mama’s Day to my beautiful mother aka The OG 😘. Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there, the caregivers, the nurturers and mentors who put others first. We appreciate you!

National Teacher Day – May 7th

We also honor our teachers in May. Actually… America doesn’t honor its teachers, but we do like to create a reason for another instagram post and hallmark card, so we have created a day within the month to acknowledge the people who shape our lives. While this country might not pay its teachers what they are worth (nor do we properly fund our public schools) here at Catered Fit we believe that the people who take care of our children deserve a break. That’s why we offer all teachers a permanent discount on a Catered Fit meal plan. We think they deserve more than just a break on price, but also a break from shopping, prepping, cooking and cleaning.

New Tech in the Kitchen

Now that I have toasted the tequila shot, given mama a shout out and highlighted the teachers, let’s talk Catered Fit! If you are a member, you may have begun to notice those curious QR codes on our meals and bags. (If you haven’t seen these yet, keep an eye out!) We are excited to explain how technology has yet again found its way into our kitchen and what that means for YOU our members. Every day of the week we are producing TWENTY SEVEN different meals for you to choose from, all of which come in three different possible portion sizes, and I won’t even mention the dozens of different snacks, desserts, kids meals, juices, coffees and teas yet 🤯.

There are easily 125 different items being packed in thousands of individual bags across two coasts every single day. As you can imagine, that leaves lots of room for error and as humans, errors are sometimes hard to prevent 😟. When you consider that we deliver to thousands of different people five days per week even when we are 99% accurate (and we are!) that still leaves a few dozen people a day rather pissed off when they didn’t get their morning Cold Brewed Coffee or received a men’s portion instead of an upgraded Athlete’s portion (yes we offer those too). So in an effort to reduce those issues even more, we are launching a new process that allows us to scan and double check every single item in every single bag. The happiness of our members means everything to us and we will continue to work tirelessly seven days a week to improve the quality of your lives. With that said, while our new tech will undoubtedly help us become even more accurate, we will in the end still be mere mortals. So IF and WHEN we make a mistake, give us a chance and we’ll ensure your delivery is right.

CEO Knowledge Drop

Each month I try to share with you all something I have read or learned, even just anew personal practice of mine that I think you all might enjoy. So here is May’s nugget…

Crocodiles were born with scales and powerful jaws and sharks rows of razor like teeth. Nature designed these animals with those features to help ensure their survival. Humans were given serotonin and oxytocin– “the feel good chemicals”. These magical brain juices are what make us highly functioning social animals and encourage us to live in tribes and cooperate with one another. If it were not for these chemicals our species would have died off long ago. If we didn’t indulge our need to live in tribes, cooperate, form bonds of trust and friendship we would have never been able to escape that first hyena attack, found our first city, speak our first language or build our first road. The fact is that we need each other. In a world where it has never been easier for humans to connect it sure feels like we are often disconnected from each other. So what do we do?

In my personal life I have begun making it a point to wish a glorious day to fellow neighbors when we pass each other on our morning dog walks and waive with a big ol’ smile instead of staring at my phone. I open doors for strangers, compliment a nice pair of shoes, a fresh haircut, a fly outfit, a great smile or a burly beard. The beauty of these selfless acts is that they are actually quite selfish. You see, when I do a good deed, or make a fellow human smile, laugh or I wait to hold the door for that stranger, my brain releases those happy chemicals thus making ME feel really good and those same happy vibes are being sent through the recipient of those kind acts brains too! Individually we may not be able to save the world but each of us certainly can make our own communities better places to live and we don’t have to exert much effort to do so. We will never know how impactful any given kind word or compliment could be but we owe it to ourselves and each other to try a little harder.