With online food delivery’s worldwide revenue exploding, products that can make delivery safer or more convenient are in significant demand. Luxury home builder Jeremy High plans to dive deep into the space with his new company called “Fresh Portal”. It turns out that one of the recurring ask he gets from his high-end clientele who are building in Monterey, California is for a way to ensure that food delivered to their homes is kept both safe and at the right temperature.
High decided to look into the matter as he was curious if a solution already existed and when he realized there wasn’t he decided to build it himself. High’s product, a food and package delivery locker built into the side of a home has temperature control zones for either hot or cold food and would be accessible both from the outside and inside. I’m told you can even manage it with an app and it’s also integrated with third-party delivery service providers like UberEats or Amazon Fresh so they can access the outside of the locker and insert a delivery.
Keep in mind, they estimate about 12% to 15% of the U.S. restaurant market was replaced by online food delivery following covid and it’s expected that online food delivery will grow to a market share of +20% by 2025. It’s believed that the new technologies will benefit farm-to-table deliveries as much if not more than fast-food restaurants and it will allow for co-ops and other distribution systems to make deliveries in the heat of the day without anyone being home.
High first thought of the idea in 2014 when he had more high-end clients asking so he filed for a patent a year later after he further figured out the process of installation for both new builds and retrofits. To make that possible, he designed the “Fresh Portal” using the concept similar to that of a retrofit window where the installation process pierces the building envelope then the installed product is integrated with the home’s existing waterproofing.
I’m told the company plans to finally start shipping to the public sometime in 2023, with an estimated cost of under $3,500 installed. Interestingly, High does have a plan to make his food delivery lockers less expensive to the consumer through a subsidization program. One such scenario could include a Fresh Portal as part of a food delivery subscription service, as well as a setup in which the Fresh Portal earns revenues from third-party delivery service providers. Kind of like a Hinkley Springs water service where they provide the hot and cold water cooler but you have to purchase water from them. I remember Birdseye launched their frozen foods back in the early-190s this way. Nobody was really buying frozen foods until Birdseye started giving the grocery stores deep freezers.
Longer-term I can definitely see a future where home delivery lockers become commonplace just like the milk box of a bygone era. The only difference is these boxes will be refrigerated, connected to the cloud, and if you own a Fresh Portal built into the side of your home or perhaps out on the street by your mailbox. It’s amazing how many opportunities are out there for those who listen to the problems of their customers and take the time to create solutions! (Source: thespoon.com, yahoo.com)
