With a goal to reach 90 locations by the end of 2025, billionaire entrepreneur Marc Lore’s food hall concept Wonder is teaming up with FreshRealm to scale production.

FreshRealm and Wonder reached the 20-year agreement in June. Under it, the Texas-based food-as-a-service company – which makes fresh meals for grocery retailers and meal kit providers – will help Wonder reduce costs by producing food in bigger batches and buying ingredients at a larger scale.

“Given Wonder’s rapid growth and expansion plans, forging a strategic partnership with FreshRealm will not only create immediate efficiencies and room to increase Wonder’s offerings but also help accelerate Wonder’s potential expansion beyond the Northeast,” a Wonder spokesperson told NJBIZ.

Each of Wonder’s 12 eateries offer food from as many as 30 restaurant brands. Some are in-house creations, while others offer takes of existing concepts or collaborations with famous chefs.

Some ingredients are prepped off-site and then sent in single-serving kits to Wonder locations. Then, employees finish the meals to order using a few pieces of equipment, like high-speed ovens. In addition to fresh meals, stores offer do-it-yourself meal kits from Blue Apron. FreshRealm also produces meals for the Wonder-owned brand.

Shifting operations

Through the new partnership, FreshRealm will take over operations at Wonder’s four existing manufacturing plants in New Jersey and direct all upstream ingredient prep and production.

Wonder says the move will accelerate its growth by “working with the absolute best in the business at doing this at scale,” according to a company spokesperson. They also stressed that “quality and consistency” will remain a top priority for both Wonder and FreshRealm under the arrangement.

Wonder’s media representative went on to say that the businesses “share a vision of changing the way the world eats.” The partnership exemplifies how two companies “can reinforce each other’s strengths to accelerate the path to realizing” a goal, they added.

FreshRealm CEO Michael Lippold described the collaboration as a “big moment” and “meaningful step in changing how the world eats.”

“Each company has a business model that challenges single category definitions, and FreshRealm and Wonder together are changing the status quo,” he wrote in a LinkedIn post.

“Through this partnership, we are broadening our platform once again, supporting another innovative food company to supercharge growth and entering the food service segment with restaurant-quality food. We will empower Wonder with national infrastructure, increased capacity and capabilities and cost advantages,” he said. “We are thrilled to begin this journey with Wonder, and look forward to the incredible innovation we will drive together.”

No small wonder

Originally launched in 2018 as a concept based on mobile kitchens that prepared chef-designed meals outside of customers’ homes, Wonder has pivoted over the past year to a venture focused on physical locations offering options from restaurants it has licensing deals with.

Since 2023, Wonder has opened six eateries in New York City and five in New Jersey. It also debuted its first-ever retail location inside of a Walmart in Quakertown, Pa., and expects to add similar spots at the big box chain’s stores in Teterboro and Ledgewood this year. Plans are in the works to add a spot in Parsippany, which is also where Wonder’s R&D facility is located.

After snagging $700 million in funding earlier this year, Lore said the new capital will enable Wonder to reach 25 outposts by the end of 2024 and 90 locations by the end of 2025. He noted the company’s focus on scaling the business, but also said the funding will go toward research & development.

Lore told Restaurant Business last fall that he believes there’s a path to a $1 trillion market cap for Wonder and that there eventually could be as many as 7,000 locations nationwide.

Other recent highlights include Wonder’s $103 million acquisition in November 2023 of meal kit provider Blue Apron. That deal expanded the startup’s offerings to include boxes of recipes and ingredients as well as heat-and-eat options.

The transaction came a few weeks after Wonder secured a $100 million investment and strategic partnership with food giant Nestlé to grow a new business-to-business offering.

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 9:41 a.m. ET July 8, 2024, to note that Wonder’s R&D facility is located in Parsippany, not its corporate offices, which are in Cranford.