Rock Stone Farm Chef in a Box
Live demoYour food leaves the farm. The questions go with it.
Getting good food into someone's kitchen doesn't mean they automatically know what to do with everything they bought.
You already do a lot to help: recipes, newsletters, storage instructions, cooking advice, recipe libraries, social content and answering customer questions.
That's work on top of growing, harvesting, packing and selling the food. And even after you've done it, every customer's kitchen is different.
Chef in a Box gives every customer somewhere to take those questions next.
You can't write a recipe for every kitchen.
One customer has thirty minutes. One can't eat dairy. One has chicken that needs using. One has no oven. One is feeding eight. One has produce left from last week and another box coming tomorrow.
Another doesn't know what something is. Another wants to know what to use first. Another wants to freeze it. Another simply needs dinner from the six things sitting in front of them.
Static information can only answer the question you prepared for.
The recipe doesn't know what else is in the refrigerator.
The newsletter doesn't know who's coming to dinner.
The storage guide doesn't know the customer is leaving town tomorrow.
Chef works with the situation that's actually happening.
A full box isn't the same as a successful box.
When customers confidently use what they buy, the box feels useful. When unfamiliar or unused food keeps accumulating, another delivery can start to feel like more work instead of more value.
Chef helps customers identify unfamiliar food, decide what to use first, build meals around what they already have, adapt recipes to their circumstances, preserve surplus and troubleshoot when cooking doesn't go according to plan.
Help them use the box. Help them enjoy the box. Give them the confidence to want the next one.
A Chef on both sides of the box.
Use Chef yourself before the food leaves. Then send the same Chef home so customers can keep asking.
Chef helps you.
Supplement the work you're already doing. Use Chef to help develop recipes, newsletter material, storage guidance, preservation ideas and practical cooking information.
Chef goes home.
Every Chef comes with a permanent link and QR code. Put the code on or inside the box, on a bag, label, insert, pickup card or anything else that already goes to the customer.
No app to install. No customer account. Scan and ask.
Chef helps them.
The customer brings the situation you could never prepare for in advance.
Keep the recipes. Keep the newsletter. Keep the way you already communicate. Chef supplements that work—and keeps helping when the customer gets home.
The Chef can travel wherever the food does.
Every farm gets a permanent Chef link and QR code. The QR can open Chef directly or send customers to Chef on your own website.
Put it in the box. Add it to a newsletter. Put it at pickup. Print it on a farmers' market sign. Link it from your website. Send it directly to a customer.
One Chef. One permanent destination. Put it wherever your customers need it.
Built from more than 30 years in professional kitchens.
Chef in a Box is built from more than 30 years of professional cooking experience across restaurants, five-star hotels, catering, restaurant ownership, culinary education, ships and remote kitchens.
Professional cooking isn't just following a recipe. Ingredients change. Something is missing. Equipment is different. Time disappears. Dietary requirements change the plan. Food needs using. Things go wrong.
That's the kind of practical food problem Chef was built to solve.
Customers can ask about:
It knows the farm. It works with the kitchen.
Your farm
Their kitchen
Your farm provides the context. Chef brings the food knowledge. The customer brings tonight's problem.
Keep what already works. Add the part static information can't do.
Chef isn't a reason to throw away your recipes, newsletter or website. It's the dynamic layer that can respond to the actual customer and the actual kitchen.
| What you need | Recipes / guides | General-purpose assistant | Chef in a Box |
|---|---|---|---|
| Publish recipes and food information | Yes | Can help create it | Yes |
| Help create recipes and newsletter content | No | Yes | Yes + farm context |
| Know farm products, recipes, policies and current information | Published material | Requires context/setup | Built in |
| Create meals from what the customer actually has | No | Yes | Yes |
| Adapt for diet, time, equipment and servings | Predetermined | Yes | Yes |
| Storage, preservation and use-up planning | Static guidance | Yes | Yes |
| Kitchen troubleshooting | No | Yes | Yes |
| Branded for your farm | Yes | DIY / varies | Included |
| QR ready to put in every box | Links to static material | DIY | Included |
| Website access | Yes | DIY | Link or embed included |
| Ready for customers without you building it | Yes | Requires setup | Built for you |
| Professional culinary experience behind the system | Depends on source | General purpose | 30+ years |
A recipe library gives every customer what was prepared in advance. Chef works with the kitchen in front of it.
You run the farm. We build and run the Chef.
Give us the information you already have about your farm, what you grow or sell, your recipes, FAQs and policies—or any information you want your customers to know about your farm or shares. We configure Chef around it.
Your Chef is branded with your farm's name, logo and colours. We test it, give you the permanent link and print-ready QR code, and set up website access if you want it.
No customer data required. No replacement website. No replacement CSA platform. No need to become a software company.
Your name. Your logo. Your colours.
Customers encounter the Chef as part of your farm—not as a generic tool they have to configure themselves.
Your farm changes. Update Chef when it does.
Your farm gets a private management page alongside the customer-facing Chef. Use it whenever you want to change the farm-specific information Chef knows: this week's share, current availability, a farm note, pickup or delivery information, a featured recipe, or anything else you want customers to be able to ask about.
Chef already knows food. You only maintain the farm-specific information you want it to know.
Private farm management.
Change the information. Save it. Chef has the update.
Up and running in about a week.
Most farms can be ready in about a week once we have the information needed for the build. More complex setups may take longer; timing is confirmed before work begins.
Put Chef to work on your farm.
One setup gets your farm's Chef configured, branded, tested and ready to put in front of customers.
Put Chef in front of your actual customers. If you decide within the first 30 days after launch that Chef in a Box isn't right for your farm, we'll refund your $499 setup payment.
First month included. $95/month thereafter. No percentage of sales. Major new functionality, custom integrations or redesigns are quoted separately.
Frequently asked questions
Do we need to change our website?+
No. Chef can work from its permanent link and QR without changing your website. If you want it on your existing site, it can also be linked or embedded there.
What do we do with the QR code?+
Put it wherever customers meet your food: inside the box, on a bag, insert, label, pickup sign, market display or other customer material. It can open Chef directly or point to Chef on your website.
Can our team use Chef too?+
Yes. Use Chef to supplement your existing work when developing recipes, newsletters, storage information, preservation ideas, cooking guidance and other useful customer content.
Can we keep our existing recipes?+
Yes. Your recipes can become part of your farm's Chef. Chef supplements them with broader culinary problem-solving and can adapt when a customer's ingredients, diet, equipment or circumstances are different.
How do we update Chef?+
Your farm gets a private management page. Use it whenever you want to update the farm-specific information Chef knows, including current availability, this week's share, farm notes, pickup or delivery details, a featured recipe, policies, FAQs or anything else you want customers to be able to ask about.
What information do we provide?+
Whatever you want Chef to know about your farm or shares. That can include what you grow or sell, current or seasonal availability, share information, pickup or delivery details, FAQs, policies, recipes, newsletters, farm notes—or any other information you want your customers to be able to ask about.
Do you need information about our customers?+
No. Chef is configured around your farm and the information you want customers to know. Individual customers provide their own kitchen situation when they ask a question.
How long does setup take?+
Most farms can be ready in about a week after we receive what we need. If your setup is more complex, we'll confirm timing before work begins.
What if Chef doesn't know something about our farm?+
Chef says it doesn't have that farm-specific information rather than inventing an answer.
What happens after the first month?+
Managed service is $95 per month, month-to-month. It covers hosting, operation, maintenance and reasonable updates to the underlying farm configuration.
Professional food knowledge built from more than 30 years in kitchens.
Chef in a Box was developed to bring practical professional cooking knowledge to the person standing in the kitchen with the food: what they have, what needs using, what they can't eat, what equipment they have, how much time they have and what has gone wrong.
It is built and managed through ACME Terminal, a platform of specialist tools for practical problem-solving.
Donna Ashley
Founder, ACME TerminalChef, former restaurateur and culinary educator with more than 30 years of professional food experience across restaurants, five-star hotels, catering, culinary education, ships and remote kitchens.
Send the Chef home with the food.
Send us the information you want Chef to know about your farm or shares. We'll build and brand your Chef, test it, create your permanent link and QR code, and get it ready for your customers.