About Us
Two stories. One mission. A shared future.
Choice Kitchen was built on decades of experience helping people eat well and live independently at home. We didn't start as one company, we started as two: Ahlers Meals and Chef For Hire, each founded by someone who saw a real need in their community and decided to do something about it.
Our Timeline
1987 — Ahlers Meals begins. Mary Ann Ahlers saw aging adults in Southwestern Ohio struggling to get consistent, healthy meals. She started Ahlers Meals to change that, delivering nutritious food directly into their homes. What began as one woman's commitment to her community grew, generation to generation, into a trusted meal delivery service across the Midwest.
1991 — Chef For Hire begins in Indianapolis. Monty G. Degenhardt started Chef For Hire out of his apartment, prepping meals and delivering them out of his '72 Camaro for local events. What started as event catering evolved into something bigger: a mission to bring nutritious, compliant meals to people who needed them most.
1997 — Chef For Hire partners with Indiana's Area Agencies on Aging. Chef For Hire began supplying Home Delivered Meals for older adults and people with disabilities, becoming a pioneer in meeting Medicaid Waiver and Title III nutrition standards. That same year, Chef Jeff Scheck joined the team, bringing culinary expertise that shaped the medically tailored meals program still in place today.
Millions of meals later … Over the decades that followed, both companies grew independently, Ahlers Meals expanding across the Midwest, Chef For Hire expanding across Indiana and Ohio, together delivering millions of meals to seniors and individuals with disabilities.
2025 — Ahlers Meals and Chef For Hire join forces. The two companies came together as one, united by a shared purpose: helping more people, in more places, eat well and stay independent at home. Combining two proven teams and two trusted track records, they laid the foundation for what would come next.
2026 — Choice Kitchen is born. Building on that shared foundation, the combined company becomes Choice Kitchen — one unified commitment to the people we serve.
Our Mission
Our Values
- Outstanding service. Every customer is treated like family, whether they're on the phone with our team or answering the door for a delivery.
- Real impact. We deliver over a million meals a year, but we never lose sight of what each one means to the person receiving it.
- Community investment. We give back where we serve, including donating meals to food banks and shelters in our communities.
- Mutual respect. We're stronger together. That means building a culture of respect among our team, our customers, and our partners.
- Compassion. We know it's not easy to hand over something as personal as cooking your own meals. We help our customers through that transition with patience and care.
- Teamwork. Our people are what make this work. We invest in every team member's long-term success because our goals only happen together.
Looking ahead
Choice Kitchen is expanding, bringing the same trusted care to new communities across the Midwest and beyond. The name has changed, but what it stands for hasn't: real food, real care, and real independence for the people who count on us.
Awards and recognition
- Chef For Hire — Winner of the Exceptional Service Award from CICOA, 2021
- Ahlers Meals — Recognized as Outstanding Provider Partner by the Ohio Association of Area Agencies on Aging