Cook it

Cook it is a Canadian meal kit service available in Quebec, Ontario and the Maritime Provinces of Canada. Based in Montreal, it is established as the first meal kit company in Canada.[1]

Cook it
Founded2014
FounderJudith Fetzer

Patrick Chamberland

Thomas Dubrana
HeadquartersMontréal, Quebec, Canada
Number of employees
450
Websitechefcookit.com

Cook it’s subscription service includes the delivery of boxes consisting of ingredient bags and recipe cards for breakfast and dinners and also offers ready-to-eat meals and complementary products such as beverages, snacks and lunch items.

In December 2019, Cook it acquired the competing company Missfresh, and added 30,000 subscribers to its service. Following a significant sales growth resulting in a wave of hirings, Cook it counts more than 500 employees and quit the status of SME in May 2020.

History

Founding

Cook it was founded by Judith Fetzer, Patrick Chamberland and Thomas Dubrana in 2014. It was then the first meal kit company in Canada. Since its creation, the company's mission has focused on families and the idea of simplifying meal preparation for parents and young professionals.[2]

In June 2014, Judith and Patrick presented the company on the show Dans l'oeil du dragon, the Quebec version of Dragon’s Den.[3]

In 2016, Judith Fetzer presented once again Cook it on television, this time on the Canadian version of Dragon's Den. This time, she receives offers from four “dragons” (investors), and concluded a partnership with Arlene Dickinson. The same year, the registration of Judith Fetzer in the Adopte Inc. program, dedicated to supporting young entrepreneurs, led to her "adoption" by Alain Bouchard,[4] who then became a mentor for Cook it’s development.

Acquisitions

In April 2017, 5 months after the arrival of Alain Bouchard as a mentor for the company, Cook it acquired Kuisto, a competing company, and merged its activities.[5] Cook it made a second competing business acquisition on December 9, 2019 with the purchase of MissFresh from the Metro[6] supermarket chain. This operation doubled the size of Cook it, which thereafter had 260 employees and 30,000 subscribers to its services.

Diversification and growth

In 2017, Cook it launched the first of its three À table avec Cook it magazines.[7] In 2018, the company added a “pantry” shop to its offer, offering its customers the possibility to add various complementary food products to their box, such as snacks, lunch items and ready-to-eat meals.[8]

In November 2018, Cook it launched its “Sustainable Kit” as a pilot project, with the aim of making its service more eco-friendly and reducing packaging and waste.[9] The sustainable Cook it Kit, then available in certain areas of Montreal, was delivered by bicycle with a cooler bag and reusable containers reclaimed with the next delivery.[10]

In April 2020, Cook it expanded its meal offer with “Brunch” recipes, decadent breakfasts suitable for different times of the day. This novelty followed the craze of Canadians for lunches, which the company observed with its “pantry” shop sales.[11]

In the spring of 2020, the containment situation linked to COVID-19 in Canada led to a high increase in sales as the result of being classified as an essential service and delivering food to homes. This rapid growth led to a massive hiring wave of around 200 new employees, Cook it thus expanded to more than 500 employees.[12]

Awards and honours

Canadian Business Growth Awards / Female Entrepreneur of the Year Award

In November 2020, Judith Fetzer, co-founder and president of Cook it, won the Women Entrepreneur of the Year Award at the Canadian Business Growth Awards. The award showcases Canada's business leaders through a ranking based on five-year revenue growth.[13]

RFAQ Prix Femmes d'Affaires du Québec / Entrepreneur of the Year, Large Company and Coup de coeur Desjardins COVID-19

On November 18th, 2020, Judith Fetzer receives two awards from the RFAQ Prix Femmes d'Affaires du Québec highlighting the success of Cook it: Entrepreneur of the Year, Large Company and Coup de coeur Desjardins COVID-19.[14] This second award is a recognition of "the exceptional way in which the entrepreneur who has completed more than 3 fiscal years by the file submission deadline has reinvented her business during the COVID-19 pandemic[15]''.

References
  1. "Cook it : des gens d'ici qui veulent vous simplifier la vie". chefcookit.com. Retrieved 2020-06-12.
  2. "On a goûté: COOK IT". Le Soleil (in French). 2017-01-04. Retrieved 2020-06-12.
  3. "Cook it | Proudly Canadian Meal Kit Delivery Service". 2021-08-05. Retrieved 2023-04-17.
  4. "Les 25 prochains". www.lesaffaires.com (in French). Retrieved 2020-06-12.
  5. "Une première acquisition… sous l'aile du mentor". La Presse+ (in French). 2017-04-11. Retrieved 2020-06-12.
  6. "Metro vend MissFresh à Cook it". La Presse (in French). 2019-12-09. Retrieved 2020-06-12.
  7. Lisabelle, Vanessa (2017-10-12). "5 magazines québecois qui te sauveront la vie en cuisine". La Journaliste (in French). Retrieved 2020-06-12.
  8. "Discover Cook It's Pantry". COOK IT. 2018-07-24. Retrieved 2020-06-12.
  9. "L'entreprise québécoise de boîtes de prêt-à-cuisiner COOK IT lance un projet-pilote écoresponsable". L'actualité Alimentaire (in French). 2018-11-07. Retrieved 2020-06-12.
  10. ICI.Radio-Canada.ca, Zone Environnement-. "Sans emballage, la solution au gaspillage alimentaire existerait". Radio-Canada.ca (in Canadian French). Retrieved 2020-06-12.
  11. "Pour Cook it, le brunch, c'est dans la boîte!". HuffPost Québec (in French). 2020-04-24. Retrieved 2020-06-12.
  12. "Cook it souhaite embaucher 200 ressources". Grenier aux Nouvelles (in French). Retrieved 2020-06-12.
  13. "The 2020 Growth Awards Winners - Canadian Business". www.canadianbusiness.com. Retrieved 2020-11-30.
  14. "RFAQ - Prix femmes d'affaires du Québec". prixfemmesdaffairesduquebec.com. Retrieved 2020-11-30.
  15. "PFAQ - Coup de Cœur Desjardins COVID19". prixfemmesdaffairesduquebec.com. Retrieved 2020-11-30.
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