Introducing Alab SF !
The business
Meet Alab SF
Alab SF is a Bay Area meal prep service serving clean, restorative cuisine. Founder and chef Mikki Bunag started it during COVID, cooking for neighbors out of an apartment in San Francisco after seven years in New York kitchens. One neighbor became two, then five, and when a neighbor shared the menu with a Berkeley families group, demand took off.
Mikki’s background includes Uncle Boons, a one-Michelin-star restaurant in New York, and Michelin-starred kitchens in France. At Alab SF, that experience goes into cooking for health, not just flavor: organic ingredients with no gluten, dairy, refined sugars or refined oils.
Every week, the menu travels the world, from Europe and the Americas to Asia and the Middle East, with dishes like Brazilian moqueca and lamb tagine with apricots and rose petals, recreated as cleaner versions of the originals.
Business Overview
Alab SF
Berkeley & Oakland, CA
Challenge
Alab SF’s founder started out planning every delivery route by hand and texting each customer 20 minutes before drop-off. Routing software helped, but as stops grew, driver call-outs and constant hiring pulled time away from building the business.
Solution
Metrobi took over Alab SF’s weekly Sunday deliveries with a network of drivers ready to step in. When a driver drops out, even last minute, Metrobi finds a replacement instantly, and the Metrobi team briefs every driver so Mikki doesn’t have to.
Result
Alab SF’s customers now get on-time deliveries, live tracking, photos and proactive delay notifications. Mikki gets Sundays off and the time to plan the next step: expanding into Los Angeles.
The Challenge
Why did Alab SF need a new delivery solution?
In the early days, Mikki handled about 15 routes personally, looking up addresses and texting customers manually before each drop-off. Routing software brought more structure, but the business still relied on its own drivers.
As Alab SF grew to cover more locations, driver call-outs and a constant cycle of interviewing new drivers took over. Time that should have gone into building the business went into day-to-day delivery problems instead. Mikki began searching for a delivery partner, found Metrobi through Google and its reviews, and felt confident after meeting the team during onboarding.
The solution
How does Alab SF manage delivery with Metrobi?
Metrobi gives Alab SF a safety net for every route. When Mikki’s own driver had car trouble at the last minute, the route was cloned and switched to the Metrobi network, and a driver was found instantly.
The Metrobi team also handles driver communication, instructions and briefings for every driver, new or returning. Sunday is delivery day, and it’s also Mikki’s day off, so only minimal check-ins are needed. When something new comes up, like tracking glassware returns, the team works with Alab SF to update instructions.
The results
What changed for Alab SF after switching to Metrobi?
Alab SF’s customers noticed right away. Several reached out to say it’s an awesome service: they can see where their meals are, deliveries arrive on time, and if a route is running behind, Metrobi notifies them ahead of time instead of Mikki messaging each one manually.
With delivery no longer a daily worry, Alab SF has settled into its own kitchen in the Bay Area after years in a shared space in San Leandro, and is now preparing to open a new market in Los Angeles.
In their words
Mikki Bunag is the Founder and Chef of Alab SF, a clean, restorative meal prep service in the Bay Area. With experience in Michelin-starred kitchens in New York and France, Mikki started Alab SF cooking for neighbors during COVID and has grown it into a business with its own kitchen.
