Munchery, the on-demand meal delivery startup with over $117 million in funding, has lost Pascal Rigo, who came on board to Munchery as chief customer experience officer just five months ago. Rigo had formerly spent three years at Starbucks as SVP of food, after the coffee giant bought La Boulange, the bakery chain Rigo founded in 1996. Rigo resigned because he didn’t share Munchery’s strategy for growth and “vision” for the future anymore, Rigo told Eater SF.
When Rigo joined Munchery in October, he told me his goal was to make Munchery’s delivery bags as iconic as the Starbucks cup. Ultimately, as Munchery’s first-ever chief customer experience officer, he was in charge of every aspect of Munchery that had a touch point with the customer — from working with chefs to make sure the food was good to developing new programs. Under Rigo’s leadership, Munchery launched “ready-to-cook” meals, which are designed to serve two people and takes just 15 minutes to cook.
What’s next for Rigo? Well, he plans to focus on his family and La Boulangerie, the group of six bakeries in the San Francisco Bay Area he opened last year, according to Eater SF. Rigo’s departure happened at an interesting time, given that Munchery’s competitor SpoonRocket shut down yesterday, and it’s other competitor, UberEATS, just launched a standalone delivery app in the U.S.
“The entire Munchery team thanks Pascal for his many contributions to the company, a Munchery spokesperson told TechCrunch via email. “Under his leadership and direction, we have elevated our menu offerings – most notably through the launch of our Ready-to-Cook line of meal kits – brought on new chef partners and laid the foundation for exciting projects, soon to be announced. La Boulangerie will continue as a key supplier of Munchery’s breakfast and dessert options, with Pascal remaining an important business partner to the Munchery team.”
