Award notes culture of creative incentives, expanded benefits, and employee freedom
DENVER — May 8, 2019 — In its annual ranking of Top Workplaces in the State of Colorado, The Denver Post has named Custom Made Meals one of the state’s best mid-sized companies for employees. The report cites the company’s willingness to offer a unique array of incentives, its efforts to grow its base of full-time employees, and feedback from workers that conveys a sense of belonging amid a culture that allows them to perform to the best of their abilities.
“As much as we work to ensure our handmade, ready-to-prepare meals meet the standards of our buyers and the families who ultimately enjoy them, we recognize it all starts with our employees’ dedication to producing a fantastic product,” said Custom Made Meals CEO Dale Easdon.
On this year’s list, Custom Made Meals ranked 2nd out of 73 entries in the mid-sized company category. More than 230 companies participated in the competition altogether.
The Denver Post highlights Custom Made Meals’ rewards program for employees, who work in refrigerated conditions, meticulously crafting fresh, handmade meals that are available in more than 10,000 retail locations across 43 states nationwide. Workers earn awards ranging from the traditional, like monetary bonuses and concert tickets, to the unique, such as kayaks in an effort to promote an active lifestyle.
The award is also a reflection of Custom Made Meals’ efforts to expand health insurance and paid vacation to a growing percentage of its workforce.
“One of the most important responsibilities we have in management is ensuring a welcoming workplace that puts our team members in a position to succeed and makes them feel as though they are family,” said Custom Made Meals Vice President of Human Resources Katie Prekel. “A big part of that for us is rewarding outstanding performance while also providing a measure of security for our established employees.”
The winning workplaces were determined by the answers employees from participating businesses gave on a 24-question survey provided by the The Denver Post and its research partner, Energage. Both Easdon and Prekel point to the answer of one Custom Made Meals employee, who responded to the question of why they love their job by saying, “I have been working for nine years and I always feel good in this wonderful company. If I need something, they always give me the freedom to do what I have to do.”
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About Custom Made Meals Custom Made Meals launched in 2009 when President John Birdsall, along with the Jewsbury family, acquired the company from Maverick Ranch. At the company’s foundation is Birdsall’s culinary creativity, which he developed as an executive chef in Southern California. Some of the locations where families can find CMM’s handmade, easy-to-prepare dishes are: Target, Publix, Food Lion, H-E-B, Safeway, and Kroger stores. Seeing the company’s tremendous potential, New Water Capital acquired CMM in 2017. In the spring of 2019, The Denver Post named Custom Made Meals to its list of Top Workplaces in the State of Colorado.
