About

We started this endeavor in September of 2007 and knew the idea would have appeal to other entrepreneurs. And, while it is nice to see other businesses with the CSK moniker popping up, I'm pretty sure we were the first to do it, so let me take the opportunity to define the term.

Descended directly from the Community Supported Agriculture model, a CSK is based on three principles: Membership, Commitment, and Relationships.

Membership
Without members what are you? A retail business. And that is OK, but what makes a CSK special is that like a CSA you have members that help lessen the burden and share the risk in a very difficult profession. Specifically, members pay in advance, offering us not only operating capitol but giving us advance knowledge of our gross. This allows us to make advance purchasing decisions with mitigated risk. Additionally, unlike restaurants that are constantly sweating the line between food bought and covers (the amount of people coming in) we know our weekly numbers in advance each month. This allows us to buy exactly what we need which not only limits waste, but controls expenses - savings we can pass on to our members.

Commitment
Commitment is the cornerstone of a CSK ( and a CSA, too). Members are committed to receiving their share for the entire duration of their membership - we choose month to month, but quarterly or yearly would be nice. It is not OK for members to pick and choose the weeks they want delivery each month. Again this is a retail business model. As noted, this commitment offers us the financial stability not often available to those in 'the biz' (ever try living on tips?). We in turn are committed to cooking every week for our members. There is no flaking out for a spur of the moment trip, no calling in sick (luckily we can call in non sick help rather than wheeze over your food like most restaurant cooks working without sick time or health insurance are forced to do, believe me), and no pulling the plug on holiday weeks when numbers halve. We time our vacations when our members tend to take theirs, and let them know well in advance. Come hell and high water ( both of which we get here) we cook, and we deliver.
More importantly though, our members are committed to taking what they get every week - without choice!
This is directly descended from the CSA model. Every week is a surprise, and it takes a fair bit of trust, but it helps us enormously in controlling food cost, and really streamlines labor because everyone gets their SHARE of the same food! This is key. This is what separates us from a personal chef, or a gourmet-to-go or any other prepared meal iteration. And again, controlling costs translates in savings for us and for our members. Our well prepared, fresh, seasonal and local/organic sourced meals cost from $15/person/meal for 1 share to $11.25/p/m for four shares. I'm sorry, but you can't beat that with a stick.

Relationships
This is the most abstract aspect, but ultimately this whole CSK arrangement is about relationships. Our members need us. They are busy, devoted professionals and parents who are conscientious and value what our service offers to them directly, and to our greater community as a whole. They get how our business interrelates with their families, our local farmers, and other local businesses; and, they understand how that precipitates value added to their community.
Also, we need our members. Obvious fiscal reasons aside, our members give us meaningful work, they allow us to integrate the many aspects of our personal and professional lives into a fine blue collar living with a high quality of life. Most importantly to us, it lets us do something that we believe is important - making real food from real ingredients.
Cooking for people in this way is a somewhat intimate affair. We know our members in more than a cursory, see you at the check-out kind of way. They have been to our home, and we deliver to theirs. I know their likes, dislikes, allergies, and aversions. Generally I can surmise their religion, ethnicity, income, and politics, and they mine. We have cooked for them through births, deaths, and comings of age, through growth and recession, through deep freeze and sweltering heat. Most of our very fist, including THE very first members are still members. A fact that still makes me take pause.
A CSK is rooted in its members, based on a mutual commitment, and nourished by and for relationships.
So, from the horse, let me tell you that is what makes the idea exciting and useful and maybe even important.