Meal delivery start-up Munchery hires former Starbucks executive

By Lisa Baertlein

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Meal delivery service Munchery on Thursday said it hired Pascal Rigo, a former Starbucks executive, as its chief customer experience officer.

Rigo served as Starbucks Corp's senior vice president of Starbucks food and La Boulange until June 20. He was hired by the world's biggest coffee chain after it paid $100 million in 2012 to buy Bay Bread LLC, the parent of the La Boulange bakery chain Rigo founded.

At Munchery, Rigo will oversee menus, partnerships and other expansion efforts. He is the third executive to join Munchery from Starbucks' La Boulange team in the last year.

Rigo told Reuters that the experience he gained ramping up La Boulange pastry supplies for Starbucks' network of U.S. cafes should serve him well as he helps to scale up Munchery's business.

"We did that in a very big way with Starbucks," Rigo said.

Privately held Munchery said it has raised $117 million so far. Its investors include Sherpa Ventures and chefs such as Los Angeles food truck pioneer Roy Choi.

Munchery operates in San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles and New York City, where its customers order cold, premade meals via the internet and heat them in their own ovens after they are delivered.

The San Francisco-based company competes with a variety of other meal delivery companies, including Blue Apron and Sprig.

Starbucks this summer announced that it would close all 23 La Boulange bakery cafes, as well as the two manufacturing facilities that served those locations by the end of September.

While Starbucks continues to serve La Boulange products in its shops, it said operating La Boulange stores was not "sustainable for the company's long-term growth."

Rigo separately is reopening some San Francisco La Boulange locations.

(Reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Editing by Alan Crosby)