From the track to the kitchen: the story of an Alabama man who launched his own food prep service

HOOVER, Ala. — Less than 15 years ago, Isaac Robinson was training for the Olympic Trials. A track All-American at Wallace State and The University of Alabama, he competed in the long jump and hurdle events with great distinction. In 2017, he owns his own food preparation service, and business is booming.

“It’s been a long road…a long road,” Robinson said.

Between his time as a star athlete and star chef, Robinson has run the gambit in terms of employment. He served in the Birmingham Fire Department for seven years, working as a personal trainer on the side. During this period, he found his passion for prepping meals for himself and others. Proper meal prep, Robinson emphasized, is a skill, and he learned how to do it properly while body building.

One day, a PT client asked him for help with his food portioning. Out of that small encounter, the idea for Swoul Food was born.

Swoul Food is a preparation service that specializes in custom fitness meal solutions. The company offers meals for people looking to put on and take off weight, and supplies a standard menu along with custom options. ““Nutrition is all about portion size, moderation, and control,” he said. “That’s why we do what we do.”

Over time, more and more friends began to ask Robinson to help them with their meal prep, and the endeavor quickly became overwhelming for the firefighter and personal trainer. He created a website where his customers could submit their custom orders without the need for him to sort through dozens of emails to accommodate everyone.

His cooking began as a part-time gig based out of his personal kitchen. But soon, Isaac needed more time, space, and help to meet the growing demand. In 2014, he retired from firefighting and took his commitment to Swoul Food to the next level.

The company, which once put out approximately 100 meals a week, now delivers over 1200 meals in that same period. Despite the high volume, Swoul Food maintains top quality by prepping food the day before it is delivered. “People don’t want to be eating food that was made on Sunday on Friday,” Robinson said.

Unlike other companies, Swoul Food makes food prep is its sole priority. “Some people want to have a restaurant and do meal prep on the side, but I have nothing to do but meal prep,” he said. “That is what makes our company special. This is all we do.”

One thing Swoul Food takes pride in is its ability to customize. Robinson emphasized the importance of options for customers and noted that his business seeks to create an individualized dining experience. “If you pick it, we put it together,” he said.

But while the company started out as one that catered to people looking to bulk up, Swoul Food now has food options for everyone. “Over time, there were less and less body builders ordering from me and more people that just want a good meal that they know has been portioned correctly, and they can trust it has been cooked right,” he said. “We can cater to athletes, we can cater to crossfit people, we can cater to any kind of physical activity. We even have food for the family.”

The name of the company is almost as unique as the range of services it provides. It is a fusion of the term “Swole” and “Soul Food,” both of which have significant meaning in Robinson’s life. “Swole” is easy to understand, as Robinson has spent the vast majority of his life working to stay physically fit. “When we say it in the south, it doesn’t mean you’re a body builder. It’s just about getting in shape,” he said. But “Soul Food” also has a significant draw from his family in Georgia. Back in the 1990s, Robinson’s father owned a Soul Food takeout restaurant known as Soul Food Express, which was revolutionary for the time. Combining the two was a no-brainer.

Swoul Food has exploded across the state in a fairly short amount of time and even services people in Columbus, Mississippi. Robinson started by networking with fitness connections across the state. Now the demand has come back to the Birmingham area closer to Swoul Foods’ base of operations in Hoover.

In a few years, Robinson wants his company to be the premiere food prep service in the Southeast. Although there are some companies that do similar things on the the west coast, he believes that his product is unique to the region.

You can learn more about Swoul Food at the company’s website linked here.