Matthew Hayden, president and CEO at Scratch Food, and his family have owned two Dayton-area businesses, Chimney’s Inn and Pour Haus Tavern. Now he finds himself and his employees making the Scratch Food kitchen stay on top of meal preparation during the tough novel coronavirus outbreak.
Scratch, on Miamisburg-Centerville Road, has a very important client, the Pink Ribbon Girls, a support organization for those affected by breast cancer, that provides meals for those battling the disease. The non-profit has recently added meals to the normal delivery cycle, which means Scratch is busier than usual.
“We began with them in 2012,” Hayden said. “They have expanded all across Ohio and into St. Louis and California. We have been ready to meet the challenge to help their clients.”
He added that with all the stay-at-home orders now in place, Scratch is also prepared to get meals out to people in the area.
“We have gotten really serious about delivering and shipping meals right to people’s doors,” Hayden told the Dayton Daily News. “I didn’t realize initially how important a service that was going to be, but now it’s really as with all of the social distancing we have decided to get serious about letting people that service we provide a sealed, healthy hygienic meal delivered right to you.”
Marshall Barley, the executive chef and director of operations, has been with Scratch for eight years. During the COVID-19 crisis a day-in-the-life for him and the other members of the staff means getting to work early and getting the meals ready to be delivered.
“I think we he a great service anyway, but we are plugging along during these times with the ability to deliver meals and so people don’t have to get out to find something to eat and can follow the stay-at-home rules,” he said. “I think we can benefit some folks.”
He noted that the company’s business with the Pink Ribbon Girls is booming, but there has been growth beyond its biggest client.
“We also obviously do retail sales and we are doing about 1,500 to 1,800 meals-a-week that go directly to women that are going through breast cancer treatment,” Bartley explained. “Typically in a week, we do between 1,800 to 2,400 meals for all of our retail but 3,600 is not out of the question during busy times like now or during holidays.”
Trying to keep a variety of meals on the menu has been a priority for Scratch as keto, vegan, traditional homestyle and vegetarian fare make up the choices the kitchen is preparing
“We do offer a full line of those choices and also kids meals in most of those options,” Bartley said. “We have a pretty good variety but sometimes it can be challenging when sending up to six months of meals to a person who is getting the same 15 to 20 things. But that is where we are at.”
MORE: Pink Ribbon Girls to deliver more meals during coronavirus pandemic
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