Why To-Table?
E-commerce sales, online ordering, and delivery of groceries is growing three times faster than established food sectors like restaurants and grocery. Last year, it was $14.1 billion in the U.S., and projected to top $40 billion by 2020. So... what differentiates To-Table, a small online retailer, in this tidal wave of expansion? We are like your meal delivery kits but at the next level.
To-Table is the rare item retailer of specialty foods. The very best foods that are hard to find.
- Order from anywhere and have it delivered anywhere. To-Table is focused on convenience.
- With food sources who produce their products in humane, sustainable and healthy methods, To-Table is focused on products with minimal environmental and health impact.
- Distinctive foods arrive with unmatched freshness by shipping directly from the source. To-Table is focused on the highest quality delivering the finest taste, textures, and flavors.
- Providing a market for the smaller artisan sources as an alternative to the larger industrial producers, To-Table is focused on helping the "slow food" or "good food" movement take root in our culture.
As its primary focus, To-Table promises choice.
- The choice to pick the types and quantity of the meats, fish, game, poultry, vegetables, foraged products, fruits, cheeses, pantry items and charcuterie that you want - not the choices of others putting together meal kits or CSA farm boxes.
- The choice to plan the menu yourself and follow the recipes you find on your own (including those we offer). Our customers have graduated from meal kits.
- The choice to cook and create with the wide variety and diversity of the world's foods while creating new treats and sensations for you and your guests.
- The choice to balance your meals with more sustainable and healthy products that benefit the environment and your well-being.
- The choice to make gifts of foods that adhere to your own convictions.
Combining the resources of the internet, the recommendations of award-winning chefs, the relationships with coveted sources, and direct shipping, To-Table opens a completely new marketplace anchored by the finest perishable foods from all categories.
Many perishable food ingredients, some of the best in our opinion, either sit on shelves at typical grocers too long to maintain their quality or pose too many challenges for grocers to stock. By shipping these rarer items directly from our various sources, we eliminate the traditionally long and destructive distribution cycle and extend availability for items not typically stocked.
The Shipping Premium (It just got smaller!)
To-Table prices the gourmet and distinctive foods to favorably compete with similar quality items wherever they are sold. While we are a rare item retailer, our products are not the Crown jewels. Our products' prices fairly reflect the skill to produce them and the supply vs. demand dynamics. Some of our sources sell directly online and we mirror their prices.
What affects our customers most is the cost of shipping. We charge for shipping separately or integrate the cost into the product price - whichever will yield the best result for our customers. While we have recently successfully negotiated lower shipping rates, speedy delivery of fresh products costs more than for products shipped through traditional long cycle distribution channels.
While we can and have lowered shipping costs, there simply is no way to eliminate the cost of shipping our unmatched, high-quality, perishable foods. It is the direct shipping premium that fosters such a huge improvement - a mastery - in the choice for unsurpassed foods. Having said that, at To-Table we deliver...
Quality - The freshest comes directly from the sea, farm, ranch, forager, or artisan without stops at warehouses and grocers.
Time Savings - With more time for work or leisure in lieu of shopping and driving around to find what you want, direct shipping actually can be a savings?
Access - When the perishable delicacy is simply not available without shipping from a distant source, the shipping premium is a part of the product's cost. It may be priced as a luxury item, but indulgences make life more interesting.
So why does To-Table stand out?
Through our approach, you have food choices rarely available elsewhere. The choice to purchase the finest foods on your own terms without pre-packaging and set menus and recipes; the choice to make a difference in your own and the planet's health with your food selections; the choice to add whatever variety and spice of life, through food, that enhances your well being; and the choice to move further up the evolving benefit chain that e-commerce has created.