While Tri-City businesses have been reorganizing to continue serving customers and weather the fallout from Covid-19 stay-home orders, one pair of young entrepreneurs have leveraged the austere conditions to launch their dream business.

Redefined Meals, a weekday lunch service, delivers healthy meals prepared fresh from scratch that morning to desks and doorsteps, liberating busy parents and those working from home from the pesky question, “What’s for lunch?”

“We want to redefine the way people eat or consume their food,” said Layton Brown, who started Redefined Meals with his wife, Giselle, this spring.

“One purchase, and lunch is taken care of (for the week). Everything is going to be healthy and align with whatever your diet is. It’s like laying out your outfit for the morning—you wake up and you know what you’re going to wear,” he said.

Redefined prepares a five-day meal package each week, based on what produce is locally available and in-season, for a flat rate of $60 ($12 per meal), plus a $15 delivery fee that covers the deliveries.

A sample of recent menus included shaved asparagus salad with avocado, curried cauliflower, arugula chickpea salad with cilantro lime dressing, tri-color potato salad, and gluten-free pizza mini bites with side salad.

Customers can sign up and specify any allergies or dietary restrictions on Redefined’s website as late as 11:59 p.m. Sunday for the following week’s delivery. They also can bypass the delivery fee and pick up meals at Red Mountain Kitchen in downtown Kennewick.

Same-day ordering for individual meals is possible, but customers are advised to call for availability. Meals are typically delivered between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Cold-pressed 16-ounce juices are available to those who pick up their orders. Flavor options include celery, pineapple/ginger, celery/lemon/green apple, and carrot/beet/ginger.

Redefined also offers a Sunday brunch box ($45) for a picnic with friends or family, a surprise gift for a loved one, or for unabashed weekend snacking.

The brunch box includes a half pineapple, sliced strawberries and kiwi, orange wedges, cherry tomatoes, as well as rainbow carrots, celery sticks and cucumber sticks accompanied by a raw almond cilantro dip. Vegan matcha pancakes with creamy homemade chocolate spread and superfood peanut butter oat bites round out the smörgåsbord.

All of Redefined’s meals are 100 percent organic, plant-based, gluten-free, dairy-free and contain no added or refined sugar.

This focus is echoed in their mission statement: “Redefined is a lunch delivery service with a mission to inspire our community to eat healthy sustainable food that’s good for our well-being and the planet. We use organic, locally-sourced ingredients, prepared freshly, and delivered to you in eco-friendly packaging.”

Redefined sources its fresh ingredients from local Alvarez Organic Farms in Mabton and Schreiber Farms in Eltopia.

The company was born in the Browns’ home kitchen, with friends and family serving as guinea pigs and first customers in the early days. It doesn’t yet have a brick and mortar address or even a food truck.

Currently, Redefined operates entirely out of Red Mountain Kitchen in Kennewick, a commercial kitchen that caters to culinary entrepreneurs. Red Mountain includes cooking stations and room for its member businesses to store their ingredients and supplies without the overhead costs that come with outfitting one’s own kitchen.

“We would love to have our own restaurant,” Layton said, but added that in the near future, he and Giselle are looking to introduce a breakfast menu to their offerings.

Operating solely on a delivery model hasn’t stopped the Browns from sharing with fellow Tri-Citians their commitment to a truly farm-to-table ethic.

Despite the resurgence in recent years of locally-owned and -operated eateries serving up unique cuisine and menu options in Tri-Cities, the Browns still see a need for more healthful dining choices featuring locally-sourced food.

“There (are) a lot of people in the Tri-Cities that are trying to eat healthy, and so we’re just trying to get the Tri-Cities the highest quality ingredients as possible,” Layton said.

Both Layton and Giselle grew up in Tri-Cities and come from entrepreneurial families.

Layton’s grandmother bought the Tri-City Bible Bookstore over 30 years ago when it was at its original location in downtown Kennewick. His mother still manages it today.

“(Grandma) is 90 years old and I still ask her for advice on things about owning and running a business,” Layton said. His brother, too, owns and operates a landscaping business.

In addition, Giselle’s mother ran her own restaurant in Mexico before the family immigrated to the U.S.

“Giselle is a really good cook and there would have been no way (Redefined Meals) would have been possible without her,” Layton said.

Life experience informed the couple’s vision for Redefined Meals.

Layton recounted working for a fertilizer and chemical company and how it prompted him to educate himself about and pursue organically-grown food. Later, after he met Giselle and they were married, they began to conceive of Redefined Meals while living for two years in the Czech Republic.

While there, the Browns befriended a pair of organic grocers who ran a store down the street from their apartment. It offered an opportunity to experience farm-to-table eating firsthand.

Upon returning to the Tri-Cities, Layton recalled, “We both were working full time and loved taking lunches together. We would go to Fresh Leaf Co. and Graze, and that was pretty much it … We really wanted to try different things.

“So, then we started brainstorming what we would want as full-time working people in the Tri-Cities. We thought we would want our lunch brought to us, so that we could go eat it in the park or be out in nature, or wherever you want.”

Having lunch delivered saves time for customers, especially those on a set lunch break, who instead of spending their allotted time going out and getting a meal can enjoy or make better use of their time with a meal delivered ready-to-eat.

“We’ve had way more subscriptions than we thought we would,” Layton said.

He continued, “I feel like this is what I want to do … I feel really blessed for this opportunity to be able to open … I’m so thankful. I would love to do way more meals.”

Currently, Redefined’s team consists of just Layton and Giselle, who prep all of the food and make the daily deliveries. As their customer base continues to grow week by week, they are feeling the pressure to hire more help.

“We are looking for a delivery driver, someone who could do our farm pickup and food prep,” Layton said. “We would definitely love to hire some people who are health-conscious and really want to change the world and make it a better place.”

Redefined Meals: redefinedmeals.com; 509-366-0169; Facebook; Instagram.