On this episode of WellBuilt, Jon sits down with Luke Saunders, founder and CEO of Farmer’s Fridge, a company revolutionizing how people access fresh, nutritious meals through smart fridges stocked daily with chef-curated salads, bowls, and more.

What started as Luke’s personal frustration as a traveling salesman struggling to find healthy food on the road has grown into a company delivering tens of thousands of meals daily to over 2,000 locations—including hospitals, universities, Targets, and airports—all powered by a centralized, 100,000 sq. ft. refrigerated facility in Chicago.

The conversation covers:

🥗 The origin story—from chopping lettuce in a shared kitchen to launching an automated, vertically integrated food system.

🚛 Why their centralized production + proprietary distribution model helps keep costs low, food quality high, and operations scalable. And why Luke views Farmer’s Fridge as a tech company as much as a food company.

📊 How customer-level feedback reshaped their entire menu strategy and sparked a data-driven approach to healthy food.

🧠 Why the vending machine is the marketing. How they scaled without paid ads for over a decade by placing fridges in high-traffic, high-visibility locations.

👨‍⚕️ Why hospitals and healthcare systems have become a major growth channel—and what it means for food access, trust, and nutrition.

🍗 Thoughts on consumer trends like high-protein, GLP-1s, clean label foods—and how Farmer’s Fridge is meeting the moment without chasing hype.

🔧 Lessons in fundraising, operations, and the often unseen costs of scaling a mission-driven food company. Luke also reflects on how he manages personal energy as a founder, what he’s learned leading a 500-person team, and what it takes to build for the long haul.