“People are loving that we’re not the chicken breast and broccoli of healthy eating,” says Porttion CEO & Founder Tania Lehotay.
New meal delivery service Porttion offers perfectly “porttioned” meals with farm-to-table and organic ingredients and global fusion flavors.
Originally from Guam, Lehotay and her husband, an Ohio native, were living in San Diego before trading the coast for a better quality of life in the Midwest. Lehotay says that when they moved to German Village in the winter of 2014, she fell in love with Columbus.
While she had been studying law, Lehotay decided not to pursue the field post-move, instead combining two elements of her background that perfectly tie into Porrtion: an entrepreneurial family and love of cooking. She started a blog detailing her experience moving to the Midwest and its new cuisines. Lehotay says one thing that no one told her: not to eat all the pizza. After many encouragements to try this pizza place and that pizza place, Lehotay found she had put on some weight.
“So thus came my wellness journey,” she says.
She also missed the global fusion flavors of San Diego – traditional eats from Guam, Japan, the Pacific Islands. Lehotay shifted her interests to creating authentic global fusion recipes, sourcing ingredients from a variety of stores throughout Columbus. But even with all the clean eating and a healthy lifestyle, “It came down to portion sizes,” Lehotay says. The seed for Porrtion had been planted.
“I wanted to bring to Columbus something that wasn’t here, a niche that didn’t exist,” she says.
Not only was she interested in bringing new flavors to Columbus, but convenience.
Porttion offers a rotating weekly lineup of chef-designed meals based on what’s available locally. That includes sourcing from other local small business like Nina’s German Village Honey and Krema Nut.
Porttion diners have until Thursday evening to place an order for the following week of meals, with options for everything from a one day sampler, to a premium meal pack with breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks Monday through Friday. Meals are made on Saturday at The Commissary, and by Sunday, delivered to a diner’s home or office.
The menu sees influence from Asian, Mexican and Pacific Island cuisines – some of Lehotay’s favorites – but is also pulling in more American comfort foods. While all meals don’t follow any specific diet, many of the dishes do fit into the Whole30 or paleo-inspired category.
A Porttion concierge can help diners with any unique dietary restrictions. After ordering online, the concierge calls each customer to find out more about their allergies, meal preferences, and likes and dislikes if they have ordered before. From there, the menu can be adjusted to better suit an individual’s preferences.
Meal delivery service in Columbus is really the tip of the iceberg for Porttion’s master plan. More eaters will have access to Porttion meals through a rapid expansion that’s already in motion. Porttion currently delivers to Columbus and the surrounding areas, is soon launching in Cincinnati and Cleveland, and is exploring logistics for Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York.
The business is headquartered at Worthington’s COhatch which shares ties with Dublin’s Mesh Fitness. Mesh will be one of the first for Porttion’s grab-and-go concept that is making its way to local gyms. The food delivery service is also partnering with Ronin Training Center in Grandview and is speaking with another chain of fitness centers.
Instead of using another commercial kitchen facility, Lehotay says Porttion is also working towards its own kitchen, to be located in Worthington as well. Rounding out the business’ ambitious plans for the year – bringing clean eat to the vending machine.
For more information, visit porttion.com.