Two years after launching its U.S. franchise program, Heart to Home Meals has landed at No. 236 on the 2026 Franchise Times 400 — a list that ranks the largest U.S. franchise systems by global systemwide sales — marking the brand's first appearance on one of franchising's most closely watched benchmarks.
The debut is notable for its speed. Heart to Home Meals opened its first U.S. locations in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Naperville, Illinois, in 2025, and has since added development agreements in Somerset, New Jersey; Durham, North Carolina; and Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, bringing the total to five U.S. franchise agreements heading into 2027. Its parent company, apetito — a foodservice and meal delivery group with more than $1 billion in annual global sales and a senior nutrition focus dating to 1958 — completed a more than €12 million expansion of its Ottawa production facility to supply the growing U.S. system.
The Market Pulling Them Forward
The macro backdrop is driving urgency across the senior-focused foodservice segment. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Americans aged 65 and older are projected to grow from 18.9 percent of the population in 2025 to 23.4 percent by 2060. Meanwhile, Meals on Wheels reports that one in three of its local providers carries a waitlist, with seniors waiting an average of four months for meal service. On the payer side, more than half of individual Medicare Advantage plans now include a meal benefit in 2026, according to KFF — a coverage shift that opens a significant reimbursement channel for operators in this space.
Heart to Home Meals positions franchisees to capture demand across income levels by serving both private-pay customers and partnering with Medicaid and Medicare Advantage programs. The brand recently added North Carolina as an approved Medicaid state, expanding reimbursement access for its franchisees there. It was also recognized as a 2026 Excellence in Customer Service Award winner by the Business Intelligence Group, in part for a service model in which drivers bring meals inside and check on customers' well-being — a differentiator in a category where human contact is increasingly valued alongside nutrition.
Rankings Context and Expansion Plans
The 2026 Franchise Times 400 was compiled through a five-month research process. Combined sales across all ranked brands reached $784.6 billion, up 4.3 percent year over year. Health and medical franchises posted the strongest growth of any sector at 10.9 percent — a figure that reflects broader consumer investment in services that support independence and well-being, and one that bodes well for home-delivered meal concepts in the hospitality and foodservice space.
"This ranking tells prospective franchise partners that they're joining a brand with real scale and staying power," said Richard Peroe, Senior Director of Franchise Development at Heart to Home Meals. "The need for nutritious, home-delivered meals is growing every day, and there simply aren't enough providers to meet it."
The brand is actively recruiting franchise partners for the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Florida, and Texas markets. Its founding franchisee program reinvests the $40,000 franchise fee directly into local marketing for the first 10 U.S. franchisees, and the model carries no royalties or national marketing fees — terms structured to reduce early-stage financial friction for operators entering the senior meal delivery category.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
