Meet Sonia Farris and Kasia Lojko of All Real Meal in Manchester

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sonia Farris and Kasia Lojko.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Sonia. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Nearly five years ago we started All Real Meal with nothing but an idea. The idea was that moms like us needed an affordable and convenient option for fully cooked, locally sourced, food, that both tastes and has the quality and nutrition of a meal that was home made. The kind of food that a friend or family member would make you, with love. The kind mom brings over when you’re sick, or your best friend brings over after you just had a baby. We wanted to create REAL fast food that other moms would be proud to put on a plate to enjoy a family dinner with their children. Convenient meals that could be reheated in minutes without the insufferable mom guilt of low quality alternatives.

My partner/work wife Kasia Lojko had moved here from Poland with ambition and a dream that she would find a way to work for herself, create abundance in her life, and teach her children about freedom. As for me, (Sonia Farris) I was a single mom (I’m now happily married) to three gorgeous kiddos and working multiple jobs in an effort to rebuild after a family tragedy. I spent all of my energy teaching my kids about purpose, love, gratitude, and embracing our new life with a sense of adventure. Together, Kasia and I had no culinary training (like NO culinary training…we didn’t know how to hold a knife properly or know not to wear flip flops in the kitchen when handling said knife, which we learned quickly after taking a shared space in the kitchen of a no nonsense, retired Marine, chef, but I’ll get back to that) We also had no funding, full time day jobs, and 6 children to navigate while getting All Real Meal off the ground.

Still, we worked at it every day and also poured ourselves into learning how to run a business and traverse a professional kitchen. We traded food for things we couldn’t afford and spread the word about our business through charitable efforts and social media. Over time, our vision for our little start up took shape. In the past three years sales have more than doubled each year, and now we are positioning ourselves to start shipping our meals throughout New Hampshire and Boston.

We have been incredibly fortunate to receive guidance and support from other chefs and business owners, who have graciously answered questions and helped us make good decisions along the way. But most notable and key to our success is the patient support of our husbands. “The Silent Partners” we like to call them, haha. Given our lack of experience, lack of funds, and general blind optimism in thinking this would be a good idea, a lot of men would have put the kibosh on this venture, but Chip and Todd have always believed in All Real Meal, and believe in us. All Real Meal is a family owned and run business in every sense of the word. Every one of our kids participate in every day operations right down to little Ryan, who is only 7 but really good at labeling dressing cups. Together, our brood has created a profitable, debt-free, award winning business that brings exactly the kind of food we wanted to the market, and inspires conscious eating and conscious giving.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Hahaha, this question makes me laugh. Smooth road? Um, no. Does anyone ever say yes to that? 🙂

Entrepreneurial life is like riding a roller coaster. Entrepreneurial life when you’re doing something you’ve never done before is like riding a roller coaster while learning to walk. Now envision doing that with six children on your shoulders. (smiles)

The biggest struggle has always been navigating growth without getting into debt and knowing when to take risks and move forward. At first it was just our families involved, but now we have a chef, delivery drivers, kitchen helpers, etc. and our growing team relies on us to make good business decisions.

There have, of course, been many goofs and setbacks while learning how to run a food business. But, we don’t look at those as struggles so much as necessary learning experiences. You don’t know what you don’t know, and we had to attempt a lot of different things in order to learn.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with All Real Meal – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
We make inspired, creative, fully prepared, meals that are made from only real food ingredients, and then we deliver them to your door.

We specialize in putting a modern spin on classic recipes. For instance, one of our most popular dishes is a simple meatloaf. But we make it with local grass fed beef from J&F Farms in Derry, New Hampshire and we prepare it with layers of caramelized onions, whole milk mozzarella, and red wine. Served with our local mashed potatoes and green beans, it’s a family favorite.

We are probably most proud that All Real Meal is a conscious company and that we have always used her as a vehicle to support the food insecure and homeless. We have provided food and donations to the New Hampshire Food Bank, Families in Transition, Child & Family Services, Flying Kites, and many other local and global organizations that do important work with the homeless and hungry. We even have a suspended meal program, wherein our customers can purchase a suspended meal for someone in need and then we distribute these meals to the homeless, to families that are undergoing long term illness or hardship, or to families that have unique situations where there is food insecurity but they may not qualify for assistance. The suspended meals are incredible because it allows us to provide food for the members of our community that need it most while allowing them to maintain their dignity.

What sets us apart is the quality of the meals we offer, and that they are truly prepared with heart. This isn’t a meal kit; these aren’t a glorified TV dinner, or take out. This is a thoughtfully crafted meal made of ingredients that are curated with love, just like what we would put on the table for you if you were a guest for dinner. When you put the fork in your mouth you taste the difference.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
We are going to continue to grow and own the east coast in fully prepared meal delivery! (That’s right)

The biggest change on the horizon (and in our company’s history) is that we are evolving past driver delivery and expanding to shipping via UPS.

We will be rolling this out within the next couple of months, so stay tuned! The first phase will open up all of New Hampshire and the greater Boston area.

Pricing:

• A la carte meals range between $8.95 to $13.95.
• You can also order with a Pre Pay program for an additional discount up to 20% if you pre purchase meal credit.
• When shipped delivery begins we will be offering meal subscriptions that will start at $49/4 meals weekly.

Contact Info:

• Address: 87 Elm Street
  Manchester, NH
  03103
• Website: https://www.allrealmeal.com/
• Phone: (603) 782-3014
• Email: sonia@allrealmeal.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allrealmeal/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/allrealmeal
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/AllRealMeal
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/all-real-meal-manchester-2

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