We’ve all grown used to picking up meals over the past year, but there’s always room to innovate. One St. Louis–based meal-delivery service is doing just that. Metabolic Meals recently launched a “click and collect” refrigerated locker system that allows customers to pick up individual meals. The lockers are now in operation at select Club Fitness locations across the St. Louis region.
Metabolic Meals has been shipping meals to customers across the country for more than a decade, but CEO/co-founder Jason Barbour says that model tends to price out some consumers. “Our average ticket size on our subscription business is $150 a week,” Barbour says. “We wanted to make a more inclusive model, where anyone who was going to spend $10 online for dinner could afford to use our product, because we don’t have to pay the shipping cost.”
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Metabolic Meals partnered with Club Fitness for the launch of the refrigerated locker systems, which are currently available at three area gyms: Ellisville, Fenton, and O’Fallon, Missouri. “Club Fitness continues to look for innovative opportunities to inspire our members to improve their overall health and well-being,” Eric Schreimann, president/CEO of Club Fitness, said in a statement. “Partnering with Metabolic Meals, a locally owned and operated company, helps us combine fitness and nutrition with on-the-go healthy, chef-crafted meals delivered with convenience and safety to their local Club Fitness location.”
Approximately 30 lockers have been placed at the Club Fitness locations, but as Metabolic Meals expands the system’s reach, Barbour says they could place as many as 100 in a single location. The lockers are refrigerated, and each is individually temperature-controlled, so meals stay fresh. Metabolic Meals doesn’t use artificial preservatives to extend the shelf life of its meals, instead using modified atmosphere packaging to retain freshness.
Anyone can use the refrigerated lockers, meaning there’s no need to sign up for a plan with Metabolic Meals or to have a Club Fitness membership. Customers can purchase a meal on-site at participating Club Fitness locations by scanning a QR code with their cell phones or in advance by visiting clubfitness.metalockers.com. Customers can pay online or through a self-ordering kiosk. Once the order is placed, the customer will receive a unique code to open the locker containing their meals, which must be picked up within 24 hours.
Once customers have collected their orders, the meal can be microwaved (typically for one to three minutes) or heated in an oven (for 10–15 minutes). Alternatively, meals can be stored in the refrigerator for up to five days after pickup or frozen for up to three months. Metabolic Meals says its meal containers are BPA-free and recyclable.
Metabolic Meals regularly updates the meal selection offered with the locker system, with around six to nine meals typically offered at any given time. A few popular items include chicken marsala with green beans; organic free-range turkey chili mac; and homestyle chicken tenders with cheesy cheddar mashed cauliflower, organic corn, and gravy.
Barbour says the company’s aim is to have Metabolic Meals lockers in 100 locations within two years. The locker system may be extended to additional Club Fitness locations, and Metabolic Meals is exploring opportunities for future partnerships both in the St. Louis region and beyond. (Businesses that are interested can email [email protected]). Barbour says there’s already interest from a number of other nationwide gym chains, and he believes partnerships could follow with grocery stores, stadiums, and a variety of other locations. There’s also potential for other businesses and products to use Metabolic Meals’ lockers. “We could also do third-party delivery from these lockers,” Barbour adds. “We could do DoorDash, Uber Eats, or Instacart pickup if we wanted to go that route—currently we are not, but we will.”
