The term “dream dinner” may bring to mind a perfect date at a candlelit table, violin music in the background, with the meal capped by a wedding ring hidden in the champaign glass.  Dream Dinners is also a quickly rising food franchise business.  It involves prepared menus and locations where people go to receive instruction in cooking them.  A lot of people ask, why didn’t I think of that?

People are very busy today.  Work and school and a variety of other activities for family members mean it’s harder than ever to eat well .  Sure there are many quality frozen and ready made foods, but somehow it’s never the same as a good home cooked meal.  But doesn’t something have to give when time is on a budget?  This franchise lives in that space.

This is how it functions.  Customers select up to 14 menu meals every month.  Number of servings determines cost of each meal.  Now while still at the store, they cook.  There are both private and public supervised cooking sessions.  It’s a little bit like a cooking show where the show gives the viewer the food then helps them prepare it along with the host.  

It sounds a lot more expensive that it really is.  The more people buy the more they save, so all 14 meals are about $3.50 per serving not counting sides and other items like salads.  This can bring the cost per serving for a complete meal up to around the $5 mark, but for a busy working family it’s not bad.  Not only are the meals provided, but the family can enjoy the cooking experience in a setting where it’s ensured that they’ll prepare the meals the right way.

Remember, these are franchises.  There has been some tension.  The food and menus are fine, but the franchise owners may have a problem.  Forbes Magazine profiled Dream Dinners in March 2008.  The story made the corporation look pretty bad.  It expanded very quickly, attracting entrepreneurs with its unique concept.  But many of the franchisees lost their shirts after only a short time, which meant the business plan may be flawed.  The article detailed what was described as misrepresentations of the profit possible, and thus the overall valuation of franchises.

That’s something for the company to handle.  For patrons, it’s fun to handle the cooking chores while working off of a wonderful menu.

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