Kevin Bowler, chief executive of My Food Bag. Photo / Supplied
Kevin Bowler, chief executive of My Food Bag. Photo / Supplied
Subscription meal kit company My Food Bag has branched out and is now selling ready-made meals under the brand name Made.
Made is a subscription service similar to My Food Bag, however, the meals are already prepared and only need to be heated. The new subscription service has options offour, six, nine or 12 meals to be delivered each week.
My Food Bag chief executive Kevin Bowler said the meals were an alternative to takeaways and were designed for people who were more time poor than the traditional My Food Bag customer.
The company conducted a survey among 370 customers and found that 64 per cent were having takeaways at least once a week, often due to getting home late from work and so it set out to service that need.
It found that convenience was the reason most opted for takeways, though 39 per cent said they were too expensive.
"Ready-made meals are proving a significant trend in many overseas markets, so we're looking forward to providing Kiwis with similar nutritious, time-saving options," Bowler said.
"We know that modern family living means it's not always possible to get in the kitchen to cook dinner every night, so we wanted to offer customers a healthy, ready-made meal solution that's tasty and easier on their pocket."
My Food Bag was founded by Cecilia Robinson and her husband James, along with chef Nadia Lim and Theresa Gattung in 2013. In less than 10 years it has grown from just an idea to be the third-largest food retailer in the country - after the two big supermarket chains.