Tampa based Eat Fresco has expanded into Publix stores

At the end of July, the Tampa-based prepared foods company launched its products in 21 Publix stores.

The stores — in Tampa, Lakeland and surrounding areas — will sell Eat Fresco’s fresh, prepared meals such as the salmon dish, Caribbean Style Jerk Chicken and Cuban Inspired Pork Loin.

Eat Fresco, started in 2014 by Rob and Tracy Povolny, was already in 50 stores in Florida, but the Publix addition represents a big step forward for the company.

Easy, healthy meals in no time

The days of the Swanson TV-dinner is long gone. Eat Fresco offers fully-cooked microwaveable meals that are fresh, healthy and made right here in our area. Eat Fresco is in 70 retail stores throughout Florida including select Publix grocery stores in Tampa. Co-founder Tracy Povolny joined Great Day Live to talk about her growing company.

Healthy, convenient prepared meals are crafted in Tampa

This local factor is key to Fresco Foods, a young business that operates the Eat Fresco brand of meals that are sold at stores like Winn-Dixie, Earth Fare, Rollin’ Oats in St. Petersburg and more. Husband and wife Robert and Tracy Povolny launched the company in February 2015 and spent the next two years raising capital to open the industrial kitchen/office space in March 2017. As I sit down to talk with them about the company after a tour of the space, they keep repeating words like “clean,” “local,” “real food” — buzz words of our current food moment.

Food You Can Feel Good About Eating

Our goal at Fresco Foods, Inc. is to bring you a fresh, nutritious and flavorful meal, designed to save you time and energy. And until now, that didn’t exist. Here’s why:

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Eat Fresco featured on WFLA News Channel 8

Fresco Foods featured on News Channel 8. “The meals are made daily in Oldsmar and vacuumed fresh for a 15-day shelf life. Eat Fresco is available in more than a dozen stores across Tampa Bay from major grocery chains like Winn Dixie to boutique stores like Nutrition Smart Natural Organic Grocery and Vitamins (Gayle Guyardo). “They are hormone free, antibiotic free, no preservatives. All of the meals are made with the finest ingredients,” said founder Rob Povolny.

Who did we create Eat Fresco for…?

Well, everyone. We ALL have to eat and we ALL want our food to taste great. The majority of people want to prioritize “eating right” and feeding their loved ones quality food. Throughout each stage of our lives, whether we’re single, married, parents or caretakers, we crave good food. Food is essential. Time is limited. So no matter what life stage you happen to be in, good food that saves time is desirable. Eating nutritious, fulfilling meals should be simple; yet, unhealthy food options abound. Too often, we succumb to poor food choices- a late night pizza, a frozen entrée for lunch, fast food to please your little ones, or take-out on the days where time is limited and energy is lacking to cook a healthy meal.

Why Did We Start Eat Fresco?

Eat Fresco is fresh, restaurant quality, time-saving food. At the onset we knew we needed a convenient, affordable option that was easy to prepare at home, the office, anywhere. Our main goal was to create great tasting food, without artificial, unhealthy ingredients or preservatives. We weren’t striving for a low calorie meal per se, just real food we could feel good about eating. Turns out, the end result was relatively low in calories and low in sodium, which is rare for packaged food products. Overall, Eat Fresco is full of nutritional benefits AND full of flavor. Our promise of both quality and convenience has been fulfilled. We are so proud to bring you fresh, all natural and organic food, made locally in our kitchen. Thank you for selecting Eat Fresco, it is an honor. We are grateful for all of the positive feedback you’ve given us thus far.

Big grocery chain adds Tampa prepared meals startup as official vendor

Four months after launching, Eat Fresco — a Tampa startup that produces and sells premium prepared meals— has landed its first major supermarket account.

Beginning June 22, Eat Fresco’s product line of seven vacuum-sealed meals will be available in six Winn-Dixie stores — five in the chain’s corporate backyard of Jacksonville, and one on Swann Avenue in South Tampa.

Former food industry exec launches Eat Fresco, an ambitious prepared-meals concept

Rob Povolny had a choice to make: pick up stakes in Tampa and transfer to Chicago to keep his job as sales director for a food ingredients company, or take a severance package.

He chose the latter, partly because it was February, but more so because he had an idea simmering – to offer prepared meals that were several cuts above the standard fare, packaged entrees using fresh, locally sourced foods.