How Does Box’d Work?

Box’d is a new restaurant concept that was created to serve a growing demographic of Torontonians who are looking for delicious, healthy meals fast. Box’d introduces guests to two concepts: a new way of ordering and picking up your meal, and classic Middle Eastern favourites paired with fresh new ideas from highly regarded Toronto Chefs.

Box’d also addresses customer needs. In the financial district, beating the lunchtime rush has always been a challenge. Many people turned to apps like Ritual to try to reduce wait times. But with app line-ups mirroring those of in-person ordering, this option has become less appealing. A huge challenge for the restaurant industry in general is when guests wait in line for their meal unknowingly having multiple app orders in front of them.

Box’d fixes the problem by putting all the staff in the kitchen–or as we like to call it–the Heart of our House.

As a result, we are able to serve more guests faster. Box’d works as follows:

• Guests order and pay in advance from their office or while they are en route to our location.
• When they arrive we have a fresh, healthy, chef-inspired meal waiting for them in an individual cubby.
• The guest taps twice and, voila, their meal appears, boasting flavours of the Middle East, fused with current culinary trends.

Related: How To Start My Chef Career

The food is unexpectedly inventive.  . Diners can choose from a wide selection of items, including irresistible hummuses with unique flavours such as Spicy Mango, Beetroot or Truffle. These dips pair perfectly with any of the crispy wraps on the menu, featuring meat or plant-based protein. Anyone looking for a more substantial meal can try our health-packed grains such as Freekeh and Lentils, topped with their choice of protein and complemented with chef-created sauces and hummus. 

As you can imagine, launching this concept in a pandemic had both its benefits and liabilities! Downtown life as we knew it had halted. Companies started working from home, and lines dwindled to a minimum. Our industry leading technology ended up being used differently than we had foreseen: for contactless ordering.

Had you not known how the idea for Box’d originated, you would have thought we had a crystal ball, foreseeing the future of the restaurant industry!

Being fully contactless means that Box’d offers a revolutionary way to eat out safely without the need of being face to face with any order taker. In addition to a delicious meal served up safely and quickly, our guests also get more time to recharge on their lunch break.

What are the implications for careers?

Middle Eastern cuisine is definitely a growth area for the food service industry and elevating it to fusion in Box’d is a trend we expect to see more of. Our system means less front of house staff(almost all back of house), which may have implications for those entering hospitality careers. Check back in a few months to see where Box’d has gone – and please come in to try our black truffle hummus or one of our amazing green smoothies!

Author: Karalyn White, Executive Director, Corporate Affairs at Paramount Fine Foods