Feast & Fettle’s Alon Rivel Is Building a Regional Food Empire

On this episode of the Marketing Vanguard podcast, host Jenny Rooney sits down with Alon Rivel, CMO of Feast & Fettle, to discuss the Northeast meal delivery company’s contrarian approach to growth. 

With his unconventional background spanning TV media buying, The New York Times, Bloomberg, and B2C tech startups, he brings a unique perspective to building authentic brands.

“People want good food, and they want to trust you, and they want to know when you mess up that you’re going to own it,” he says. “When we make a mistake, we tell our members before they catch it.”

The conversation explores how Feast & Fettle differentiates by focusing on time as currency rather than trendy diets or speed. Their approach combines locally sourced ingredients with hospitality-first service and community building.

Alon Rivel serves as the first CMO at Feast & Fettle, where he’s spent just over a year transforming their marketing approach. Previously, he worked across TV media buying, digital marketing for B2C apps, and various tech startups.

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Episode Highlights: 

[01:03] The Unconventional Marketing Path — Alon describes his diverse background: “I started out more traditional, in the TV media buying side of the industry. I grew up in New York City, and I got to go to some of those wild upfront parties that gave me a good base of people to have access to.” His journey through The New York Times, Bloomberg, and B2C tech startups taught him to read situations: “Growing up gay in a closet in the early 2000s, I’m Israeli Jewish, I had to learn how to read a room, and I had to figure people out for survival.”

[05:25] Intentional Growth Strategy — Alon explains Feast & Fettle’s approach: “We grow with intention. We’re not focusing on conquering the U.S. or going abroad. I think that’s where a lot of companies get it wrong.” The company has been around for 10 years and recently launched in New York City while acquiring two companies in the space.

[08:54] Solving for Time, Not Trends — When discussing competition, Alon emphasizes their unique positioning: “You’re solving for time as a currency. Time is what people who use us need. Time to either be with their kids, time to read, to do their job, to take a break, to be present. That is where we focus, and that makes us different.” He criticizes competitors who focus on trendy diets: “Any meal delivery company can take a picture of what I call ‘food porn’ and put their logo on it. That’s not what you want.”

[12:06] Why Not Scale Nationally — Alon defends Feast & Fettle’s regional focus: “We are growing, but we’re not growing in the way that private equity would want you to grow.” He calls it “intentional slow growth” and warns against losing quality: “You look at Panera—they grew too fast. They lose that thing [that made them special]. We’re so scared of losing that edge.”

[21:37] Cutting the Marketing Team — On his first day as CMO, Alon made dramatic changes: “There was a team, a very big team, and I scaled down. Literally, my first day, I sat with every single person on the team. I was like, ‘What do you do here?’ Do you know how many people couldn’t answer that question?”

[25:55] Vision for the Future — Alon shares his long-term goals: “My vision is that we become your right-hand operating system for your home. It’s like, ‘OK, we’ve solved dinner. What are we gonna solve next? What else are you outsourcing? And how do we do that for you?’ And no one’s doing that, and that’s really interesting to me.”