every meal-prep container that leaves our minneapolis kitchen is built to be used again. our entrées arrive in curbside-recyclable PP #5 that customers reuse 5–15 times before recycling; our bakery items in infinitely-recyclable aluminum. then we close the loop with a bring-back program — return your clean containers at sunday pickup, earn tandocoins on your next order, hit milestone tiers, unlock free meals. real circular economy, twin cities pickup or local delivery.
every container we use is built to get reused before it gets recycled — and we reward customers who help us close that loop. it's a real circular economy: ship, eat, return, wash, ship again. same container, more meals, less impact. a green sticker on a single-use container doesn't beat a plastic container that lives ten lives.
we use exactly two packaging materials — one for entrées, one for bakery. both are universally recyclable, both are built for reuse, neither pretends to be something it isn't. here's what each one does and why we chose it.
The white plastic containers our entrées arrive in. Recyclable, reusable, and microwave/freezer safe — and built sturdy enough that customers reuse them 5–15 times before they ever hit the recycling stream. We picked white over black deliberately — read on.
The same aluminum tray your grandma's lasagna comes in. Our cinnamon rolls, brownies, cookies, and bakery items ship in these. Aluminum is one of the most recyclable materials on earth — and crucially, recycling it doesn't degrade quality.
until someone invents a paper container that handles wet, greasy entrées, holds up in a microwave, doesn't leach chemicals, and actually breaks down in a backyard bin in minneapolis — white PP #5 is the most defensible sustainable choice we've found. cheap, microwave-safe, freezer-safe, widely recyclable in twin cities curbside programs, most customers reuse it for weeks before recycling, and crucially recycling facilities can actually see it in their optical sorters (most black plastic gets sent to landfill because the sorters can't detect it).
that's a real lifecycle, not a green sticker. on the bakery side we use recyclable aluminum tinfoil pans — infinitely recyclable, holds wet bakery items, oven-safe. different materials for different jobs, no greenwashing in either direction.
still hunting: a truly biodegradable container that handles wet entrées. if you've found one worth testing, send it our way — we'd rather know about it than miss it.
the math on PP #5 only works if the container actually gets reused before it's recycled. here's the real lifecycle — the part most meal prep companies skip past in their marketing.
entrées arrive in PP #5; bakery items in recyclable aluminum tinfoil. clearly labeled, no greenwashing on the side.
microwave, oven, or eat cold. PP #5 is freezer + microwave safe — no leaching at meal-prep temps.
most customers wash + reuse 5–15 times for storage / lunch / pantry. that's where the math actually pays.
return clean PP #5 containers at sunday pickup; earn tandocoins automatically. damaged or other-brand containers? we still recycle them for you.
recycling is good. reuse is better. bring your clean PP #5 entrée containers to sunday pickup — we count them, credit your account, wash them, and put them back into rotation. lower waste, lower costs, real loyalty rewards. one balance, no codes to type, no expiry to track.
finish your meals. rinse the PP #5 containers under warm water (soap optional). stack them. drop the stack in our return bin at sunday pickup at the downtown minneapolis kitchen — we'll count + inspect on the spot.
confirmation email or text the moment we log the return. tandocoins drop into the same balance you already earn from orders — no separate wallet, no codes, no expiry. mistakes get corrected by re-logging, nothing edited silently.
apply tandocoins at checkout exactly how you redeem coins from orders. account page shows your lifetime container count + progress to the next milestone. the more you bring back, the more your weekly meals cost less.
milestones stack on top of regular coins — they unlock automatically on your next order. no codes to enter, no claims to file.
that's the simple rule. dirty containers, damaged containers, or containers from other brands don't earn coins — but we'll still take them and put them in curbside #5 recycling for you. we'd rather they get recycled than thrown away because they didn't meet the bar.
most "eco-friendly" meal prep packaging is greenwashing. when we evaluated paper-based options, two patterns kept disqualifying themselves — here's what they are and why we chose recyclable plastic + aluminum over them. transparency over green stickers.
The kraft/paper containers that feel premium and say "compostable" right on the side. The paper is fine — but they're lined with PLA (a corn-based bioplastic) to make them grease-proof.
Paper containers with traditional polyethylene (PE) plastic lining instead of PLA. The marketing leans on the paper exterior; the reality is the plastic interior.
when we mapped out what actually happens after a customer finishes a week of meals, the difference between the marketing and the reality lined up like this.
the questions twin cities customers actually ask once they realize most "eco-friendly" packaging isn't. straight answers, no greenwashing.
no greenwashing, no overpromising. order by thursday — meals are ready for sunday pickup or local delivery across the twin cities.
see this week's menu