Route planning for meal delivery
Meal prep and meal kit businesses deliver to the same customers every week, often in a tight window and with cold food in the car. SoloRoute turns your order list into a route in minutes and keeps the bag counts and door notes in front of the driver.
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How a meal delivery week works
Most meal prep kitchens and meal kit businesses run on a fixed cycle. Orders close, the kitchen cooks and packs, and then one or two delivery days go out to the same neighborhoods every week.
That cycle makes delivery very plannable. It also means the same inefficiency repeats every week if the route is not good. A route that wastes 30 minutes once wastes 30 minutes every delivery day, all year.
From order list to route
- Export your orders. Most ordering tools and spreadsheets can export a CSV. Import it into SoloRoute and each order becomes a stop.
- Check the details. Name, address, phone, and any delivery notes from the customer.
- Set the package count. Two bags for a single plan, four for a family plan.
- Add time windows if you promise customers a window.
- Tap Optimize.
If your orders come on a printed packing list, you can scan it with your camera instead. If it is a short list, paste the addresses.
Regular subscribers can live in your address book so you do not retype them each week. The free plan holds 100 saved addresses, and Pro makes it unlimited.
Keep cold food moving
Food safety is the part delivery apps rarely think about. A few habits help:
- Pack coolers in route order. Use the package location field: “Cooler 1”, “Cooler 2”, “Front seat bag”. The driver opens one cooler at a time instead of all of them at every stop.
- Shorter routes in summer. On hot days, split one big route into two and come back to reload.
- Sensitive orders first. Pin the stop with items that cannot sit long as the first stop, or give it an early time window.
Delivery windows
If you tell customers “between 4 and 7 pm”, set that as a time window on every stop. SoloRoute plans the route so arrivals fall inside the window. When a customer asks to move theirs, edit the stop and the route re-times right away.
If you do not promise windows, skip them. The optimizer will just find the fastest order.
At the door
Tap Navigate to open the stop in Google Maps, Waze or Apple Maps.
Leave the order, take a photo as proof of delivery and mark the stop delivered. Customer notes like “Leave by the side gate” or “Do not ring, baby sleeping” show on the stop card when you arrive. If the customer has a phone number on file, tap to call.
If a delivery cannot be made, mark it failed with a reason, such as not home. Retry it later in the run, or follow up after.
Same route every week
Meal delivery routes are repetitive, which is good.
- Route history keeps every route. Look back at last week’s run to see who you delivered to.
- Reverse route (Pro) flips the order in one tap. Useful if you want the customers who usually get the late slot to get an early one this week.
- Drag to reorder when you know a customer is always home late.
Free or Pro
A small meal prep business with under 20 deliveries per route can stay on the free plan, with up to 20 new stops per day. Once you grow past that, Pro is $7.99 a month for up to 100 stops per route, unlimited saved addresses, reverse route, time windows and photo proof of delivery. It is billed through the App Store or Google Play, so you can cancel any time.
One driver, one phone
SoloRoute is built for one person planning and driving their own route. If the owner plans the route and a driver runs it, sign in with the same account on both phones. Routes sync across devices.
Try it with this week’s orders
Install SoloRoute (free for 20 stops per route) and paste this week’s addresses to see the optimized order. Bag counts and door notes are included. Pro adds time windows and photo proof.
Questions
Can I import this week's orders from a spreadsheet?
Yes. Export your order list as a CSV and import it. Each row becomes a stop. You can also paste addresses or scan a printed packing list with your camera.
Can I keep track of how many bags each customer gets?
Yes. Every stop has a package count and a package location field, for example 3 bags, cooler 2.
Can I promise customers a delivery window?
With Pro, you can add a time window to each stop, like 16:00 to 19:00, and the route is planned to reach the stop inside it. If a window changes, edit the stop and the times update.
How many stops can I deliver on the free plan?
Up to 20 stops per route. Pro is $7.99 a month and allows up to 100 stops per route.
Can drivers prove a bag was left at the door?
Yes, with Pro. Take a photo at each drop as proof of delivery. It is handy when a customer says the order never arrived.