Plan the delivery-day wave
Optimize hundreds or thousands of stops after the order cut-off, across every driver on shift.
Meal kit delivery
Meal kit delivery software for your busiest delivery days.
Meal kits arrive in waves: hundreds of chilled boxes on the same few days each week, promised to customers who plan dinner around them. Plan the wave, run it live, and prove every box arrived.
Meal kit operations
The whole week’s work lands on a few days.
Subscribers choose a delivery day and slot, and the volume for that day is fixed by the order cut-off. The plan has to fit every box into the right van, inside the slot, before the ingredients warm up.
Fit boxes by volume
Meal kit boxes are bulky. Plan van capacity by volume or weight, not by stop count.
Keep chilled boxes on the right vans
Stops can require refrigerated handling, so chilled orders only go on vehicles that have it.
Prove the box arrived
Leave-at-door deliveries get a photo, with location controls on where a stop can be completed.
Workflow
How a meal kit delivery day runs in Circle Routes
From the order cut-off to the last box on a doorstep.
- 1After the cut-off, the week’s orders arrive from your subscription platform through the API, Shopify, a spreadsheet or CSV.
- 2Routes are optimized around each customer’s slot, van volume, chilled-vehicle requirements and traffic at that hour.
- 3Boxes are scanned at load-out so each driver leaves with exactly the boxes on their route.
- 4Subscribers get a tracking link and can leave a note for the driver, like a gate code or where to leave the box.
- 5Drivers deliver, take a photo at the door, and record any collections of insulated boxes on the same route.
- 6Missed deliveries come back with a reason and are rescheduled before the food is at risk.
Capabilities
What meal kit teams use most
High-volume optimization
1,000 stops optimized in roughly 1–2 minutes in real-operation testing.
Volume and weight capacity
Fill vans by how much space the boxes take up.
Chilled-vehicle matching
Refrigerated orders go only to vehicles set up for them.
Photo proof of delivery
A photo for every leave-at-door box, attached to the order.
Customer tracking and notes
Subscribers follow the van and tell the driver where to leave the box.
API and Shopify import
Send each delivery day’s orders from your subscription platform.
Pricing
Pay for the stops you deliver, not the drivers you add.
Delivery-day peaks need extra drivers. Circle Routes is priced by monthly stop volume with unlimited drivers, so adding a driver for the busy day does not add a licence.
FAQ
Common questions from meal kit teams
Can Circle Routes plan a whole delivery day after the order cut-off?
Yes. Import the day’s orders and optimize them across all drivers on shift. In real-operation testing, 1,000 stops were optimized in roughly 1–2 minutes.
Can chilled meal kits go only on refrigerated vans?
Yes. Stops can require refrigerated handling, so they are only assigned to vehicles that have it. Circle Routes does not monitor temperature sensors in the van.
Can drivers leave the box at the door with proof?
Yes. Drivers take a delivery photo, and you can enforce where a stop can be completed with location controls. The photo stays attached to the order.
Can drivers collect empty insulated boxes on the same route?
Yes. A route can include deliveries and collections, and drivers can record a return pickup while they are already at a customer’s address.
How is Circle Routes priced?
By monthly stop volume, from USD 99 a month for 500 stops. Every plan includes every feature and unlimited drivers, and there is no setup fee.
Next step
Bring last week’s busiest delivery day.
We’ll plan it with your slots, vans and chilled requirements, and show how the day runs from load-out to the last box.