Reverse Logistics for Higher Quality and Lower Waste Restaurant Takeout — Lindsey Hoell, CEO of Dispatch Goods

 
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Led by CEO Lindsey Hoell, Dispatch Goods provides a reusable container logistics service for restaurants aiming to increase sustainability and the quality of their takeout food presentation.


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What is Dispatch Goods and what problem are you all solving?

Dispatch Goods is focused on solving the reverse logistics of reuse. It has become increasingly apparent that the culture of throw away is problematic from both a health and environmental perspective. We aim to solve for reusability through the lens of addressing the challenges associated with collecting, sorting, processing, cleaning, and redistributing reusable packages.

Can you say a little bit more about your approach to the restaurant industry as an initial application of your approach to reusability?

When we were first building the company, we viewed the restaurant industry and the takeout process specifically as a good proof of concept with a superior value proposition compared to disposable packaging. Chefs don’t want to present their food in disposable packaging. Our reusable solutions are either stainless steel or glass and offer a higher quality feel that restaurants are looking for.

What is your business model, how do you make money? How do you distribute the cost of your services between end customers and restaurants?

At the moment, we generally charge both sides of the transaction. We aim to offer price matching for restaurants as compared to their disposable packaging service patterns and then charge a small “avocado upcharge” to the customer. In this sense, they can elect to choose reusable packaging for a small upcharge in exchange for a higher quality experience and, of course, the associated environmental benefit. The customer then receives their food in a thermal bag with reusable containers. We also offer vented and non-vented lids that are meant to optimize the serving condition of the food to more closely replicate the restaurant serving experience. The reality is that once you make the packaging process circular rather than single-use, the economics allow you to invest in some aspects of the customer experience that were previously cost-prohibitive. After the food has been consumed, the customer texts a phone number with their address in order to schedule the pick up of the containers. We are looking to offer a pickup service that is comparable to the weekly recycling to which we have all become accustomed. In the case of higher-end restaurants, some of our restaurant partners have decided to build the “avocado upcharge” into their menu prices and offer the service as the default take-out option. Nonetheless, we have been able to demonstrate that our reusable service can boost restaurant revenue with the positive PR that they receive. One of our earliest partners in San Francisco saw their sales volume double after they made our service their default option.

Are there businesses or processes that you can point to as proof of scale for the notion of reverse logistics?

While there are certainly well-established processes for the returns of e-commerce products, there are not that many players in our specific ecosystem. Nonetheless, we have been able to demonstrate that the numbers work. More specifically, we use gig-economy workers for the pickup of containers from individual homes and use a fleet system for a pickup from a corporate or commercial facility. This allows us to reduce our cost structure and keep the service fees low.

How did you go from healthcare to a food startup?

Prior to Dispatch Goods, I worked as a perfusionist for 10 years, which means that I ran a heart-lung machine during open-heart surgery. I do not think that I was particularly well suited for the medical industry in the sense that I prefer the iterative rapid prototyping model of the startup industry rather than the long innovation cycle of evidence-based medicine. Additionally, I was living in Hawaii at the time, where I spent much of my free time surfing. Through this interest, it became apparent how much environmental damage is created by single-use plastics. The most remote beaches in Hawaii are often the dirtiest because in those locations people aren’t cleaning them all the time. This was a disheartening discovery that led me to get involved with the Surfrider Foundation and a specific initiative working with the restaurant industry to adopt more sustainable packaging. It quickly became clear that restaurants were looking for sustainable solutions, and consumers were also interested in more sustainable approaches. Cutting down a tree for 12 minutes of use (as packaging) and then permanent disposal in a landfill just felt like insanity for everyone involved. I am inclined to believe that as we scale, locally washing reusable packages will be substantially cheaper and simpler than the complex supply chain behind single-use packaging, which often involves sourcing resources shipping them to China or another manufacturing hub and then across the world for end-use.

Do you have daily habits that keep you focused and resilient?

I try to exercise every day with my Peloton. I think I stopped using it for exercise reasons a long time ago and instead focus on the mental health benefits of the practice. Running a business can be stressful, and this is a personally beneficial way of handling and dealing with this stress. We also do an 8:40 am standup meeting each day, where each team member briefly calls out the other team members they are going to need to lean on that day as a mechanism of outlining our day of work and maintaining accountability. I also took a really interesting class at Berkeley called Becoming Superhuman: The Power and Science of Productivity, which I have found to have had a lasting impact on my work schedule. The class highlighted the importance of leaning into your natural energy cycles, which for me occur in the morning and right before bed, whereas I am less productive from 2-5 pm. Understanding these cycles has helped me optimize my day for personal productivity and happiness. 

Do you have a book recommendation that you would provide for listeners?

I am reading Venture Deals at the moment, and I just finished reading Blitzscaling, which I found to be interesting when viewed through the lens of carbon responsibility.

Do you have a podcast recommendation?

I enjoy listening to How I Built This and Pod Save America while driving to snowboard in Lake Tahoe.

Do you have a quote that keeps you focused or motivated?

I think my team may be tired of this one by now, but it has resonated with me. It comes from Chris Rock and goes something like this: “If you want someone to help you push your car, you need to start pushing it yourself.” I think this has been so true in my experience of trying to build a startup, where it is very difficult to attract talented team members when you are first starting. By starting to push my own car in terms of our work at Dispatch Foods, we have been able to assemble an incredibly talented team in the last year and a half.

How can listeners or readers support the work that you all are doing at Dispatch Foods?

If you are Bay Area-based, you can contribute by using our service at one of our restaurant partners. If you are a restaurant owner and are interested in the service, feel free to reach out through our website. We can also generally help business owners if they have a lot of waste. Finally, if you live in another part of the country and think our service would appeal to your market, please reach out to us. We keep a list of potential inbounds as we look to expand moving forward.


Learn more.

  • Apply to our join our Climate Mastermind, an invite-only executive coaching group for climate CEOs and investors. We focus on faster business growth, better decision making, investor savvy, and stronger networks. Founded by Dr. Chris Wedding — with $1B of investment experience, 40,000 professional students taught, 25 years of meditation practice, and certification as a Mastermind Professional — our cohorts function like your own personal Board of Directors.


Note:


THE TORCH is an interview series from Entrepreneurs for Impact. We profile CEOs and investors mitigating climate change. Our goal is to highlight their work and inspire others. As we deal with multiple crisis, from Covid and racial injustice to climate change and economic recession, we need some of this positive light in what seem like dark times. Onward and upward.


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