BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Smart Lunches (www.smartlunches.com), one of the internet’s fastest growing e-commerce solutions that brings nutritious, high-quality meals to children outside of the home, announced today that highly-regarded restaurant executive Neal Yanofsky has joined the company's Board as an independent Director. Yanofsky's recent roles have included President, Dunkin' Brands International; CEO, Generation Mobile; President, Panera Bread; and earlier, VP, Marketing at Au Bon Pain. He also served as a VP with Fidelity Ventures, overseeing that firm's healthcare and business services investments.
“Given what he's accomplished in scaling nationally loved food brands, Neal adds amazing insight to our business,” said Emily Green, CEO of Smart Lunches. “We're building the first national brand in direct-to-parent school lunches. On the heels of a strong second year with continued robust growth and operational maturation, Neal's counsel comes at the perfect time, as we expand aggressively into other regions and markets."
"Smart Lunches has shown that the national school lunch market has a large underserved component and, given a lack of innovation by conventional food service providers, that it's ripe for disruption. The company creatively solves a very real problem for schools, camps, parents and kids," added Yanofsky. "I'm delighted to have the opportunity to contribute to their further growth."
The company also announced a partnership with Lovin' Spoonfuls, Inc. (www.lovinspoonfulsinc.org), a charitable food rescue organization that redirects excess wholesome foods to food-insecure families in Massachusetts. Smart Lunches will donate freshly prepared lunches that are unneeded due to sudden school closings in the Boston area; Lovin' Spoonfuls will pick the meals up and ensure they're delivered to people in need. "Smart Lunches was founded with a commitment to give back to our partner schools, and we're so happy to be able to extend that by ensuring meals that a school can't serve due to snow days, for instance, get into needy hands," said Anne Crays, SVP Partners & Philanthropy.
In other news, 2013 ended as the company's second consecutive year of strong triple-digit growth, while a slew of operational improvements set the business up for continued expansion in 2014 and beyond. Milestones included the seamless launch of the company's proprietary online ordering and delivery program (which garnered top awards from two regional tech associations); the expansion of operations in the New England region to include services on Cape Cod, in the Pioneer Valley, and in southern New Hampshire; and the launch of its second region, Greater Philadelphia, PA -- where the company now serves lunchers at 30 schools and continues to add new school partners weekly.
About Smart Lunches: Smart Lunches' online ordering and delivery service brings fun, nutritious high-quality meals to kids while providing great selection and convenience to parents and schools. Smart Lunches is one of New England's fastest growing companies, serving thousands of students each day at schools, daycare centers and camps through an innovative online service that matches schools with local quality catering and provides state-of-the-art online ordering, support, delivery, nutrition advice, customer service, and on-site healthy vending. The company gives back by sharing a portion of its earnings with its partners and by contributing to other programs to support underprivileged children -- proving great businesses can do great things while having a higher purpose. If your child is not receiving Smart Lunches, please inquire at info@smartlunches.com.
