True Blu: Dan Beck

When Beck graduated from UW-Eau Claire in 2016 with a bachelor of business administration degree, he was in position to launch his startup business, Midwest Meals, and prepare and deliver healthy and affordable meals out of a shared commercial space in Eau Claire’s Banbury Place.

His target audience was initially going to be “gym rats,” people who spent nearly every day working out and were dialed in on their diet, clients who were frustrated with fads and gimmick supplements. However, Beck soon realized young professionals short on time due to careers or young families could also benefit from high-protein meals that could easily be heated up in a few minutes.

“The way that the menu development has kind of worked since then is it needs to satisfy those people who do care about macros and nutrition and are tracking, but also, if my mom were to go to the shelf and pull out a couple meals, she’s getting something that’s going to be at least 30 grams of protein,” Beck says.

“I didn’t want to be identified as the company that was just chasing the dollar. I wanted something that was going to last.”

It was a lean operation as Beck managed Midwest Meals’ website, menu, financials and cooking with the help of just one unpaid friend. Beck worked as many events as he could handle and partnered with local gyms to attract more clients.

Business grew enough that in 2017 he took out a loan to build a brand-new kitchen and storefront in Eastridge Center where customers can to this day pick up weekly increments of meals or single servings through grab-and-go refrigerators.

“It was the people of Eau Claire that were willing to give me a shot and tell me the things that I needed to improve that allowed us to kind of move forward,” Beck says of those first years. “The things I learned while I was at UW-Eau Claire that I was able to apply, I really didn’t appreciate until later, because a lot of the beginning stuff it just figuring things out.”

By 2018, the business distributed more than 1,000 meals per week and Beck felt he was at a crossroads. He weighed expanding to another location, franchising and finding investment partners.

A cup of coffee with a successful franchise operator based in Eau Claire was a defining moment for the business. The two joined forces with a franchise attorney and opened locations outside of Wisconsin, which prompted a name change.

“I always laugh because it goes back to that era of skateboarding. There’s a very popular band called Simple Plan, a Canadian pop punk band, and that was my first thought,” Beck says. “We were able to protect it. I’m like, cool, that’s two wins for me.”

Today, Simple Plan has 23 locations in five markets and three states. Beck manages operations in Eau Claire, which now distributes nearly 2,000 meals a week, and in Madison, which just opened this summer. Systemwide, Simple Plan distributes between 3,000 and 5,000 meals each week.

The goal is to expand to 100 markets someday, though Beck emphasizes the focus for now is being “aggressively patient” and ensuring current franchises are highly successful.

“One of our core values moving forward is really that community piece of it, you know? Real people behind the brand that you can talk to,” he says.

As president of Simple Plan, Beck hopes to someday spend more time thinking about the direction of the company and less time physically in stores running daily operations. He understands more partners or different leaders may become involved if the business meets its goals.

For now, Beck’s top priorities are to help people with their nutrition and to see more operators enjoy the success he has experienced.

“I came from Ladysmith to UW-Eau Claire and started my business here,” Beck says. “That business allowed me to buy a house in Eau Claire, get married, all that kind of stuff.”

True Blu is a monthly series that spotlights UW-Eau Claire alumni.