Prep To Your Door: From One Jar to Game-Changing Food Movement

From one lunch in a mason jar to a business that has served tens of thousands of Americans in just four years.

This is the story of how Prep To Your Door (PTYD) was founded. PTYD is a meal delivery service that serves organic, plant-based, ready to eat meals in a completely zero waste closed loop model to its customers in Austin, Houston, and soon Dallas and San Antonio. But its story began in New York City, where Co-Founder, Heather Emerson, worked as a mathematics teacher turned personal stylist to celebrities and NYC’s socialites.

“As you could imagine, I was very very busy,” Heather shares. “But I didn’t want my schedule to take away from the lifestyle that I valued, which is focused on taking care of my health, the environment, and giving back. I was always looking for ways to stay healthy while reducing waste. One time, I saw a mason jar and the idea just hit me. I asked myself, ‘Why don’t I try preparing and storing my lunch in this jar?’ It worked, and that’s when my entrepreneurial side kicked in. I knew from then on that I wanted to start something with this concept.”

The jars gave Heather a way to nourish herself despite her busy schedule. She used nothing but the freshest ingredients she could get her hands on. 

“It was–at the very core–a personal move to stay healthy and reduce the waste that I was producing. And the real beauty of it was in its simplicity. Just by switching to mason jars, I was able to eliminate the need for plastic containers.”

The actual start of Prep To Your Door as a business did not happen until Heather moved back to Austin with her then boyfriend, soon to be husband, Faiez Rana. It was Faiez who pushed for them to start their own business, and Heather immediately took the opportunity to bring her original concept to life. From that point, the two worked on perfecting their meals, building a team and community presence. With the help of their first few customers, they were able to create a service that promised absolutely zero-waste, organic, healthy, and delicious meals.

“Organic ingredients are not only good for you, organic farming is also better for the environment as it helps conserve water, reduce soil erosion, increase soil fertility, and use less energy. Locally sourcing ingredients also means that their nutrients are more intact and less energy is used to transport them,” Emerson adds.

Today, Prep To Your Door has more than 40 employees. “Many people thought it was great that we had such noble values, but always questioned whether it would scale,” Rana adds. “From day one, we knew if we wanted our values to succeed, we had to make organic and zero waste financially viable and operationally scaleable.” 

As of July 2021, the brand has served more than 300,000 meals to its customers. In 2020 alone, PTYD served 77,000 meals using only 3,900 reusable jars. “Those jars are still in circulation. They’re not just reusable in theory, they are actually reused week after week!” Rana adds with pride. 

It’s clear that PTYD is more than a business, it is a movement towards a more sustainable food system and way of doing business. 

“We believe the future of business and society is sustainable. But to make it the norm, we have to create a paradigm shift. We can create a food system that is good for people and the planet, and we need every industry to shift towards sustainable practices, that means prioritizing people, planet, and profit. It’s better for our health, our communities, and yes, even our bottom line,” Rana emphasizes. 

With plans to expand nationally over the coming years, you can anticipate pulling a fresh jar from your fridge soon. 

Prep To Your Door offers 5-meal, 10-meal, 15-meal, and 20-meal subscription plans–all plant-based, organic, and gluten-free. They also allow customers to order one time for them to be able to try their sustainable meals. Their service area includes the Austin and Houston areas. For more information, you may visit https://preptoyourdoor.com or call (515)522-9294.