Gavin Carfax-Foster, a former executive chef at Dedes Waterfront Group where he oversaw menus at venues including Deckhouse, Watergrill and View by Sydney, is dishing up hundreds of ready meals each week since the launch in June of Westbourne Lane.
The former executive chef at Dedes Waterfront Group, Carfax-Foster was responsible for the menus at venues including Deckhouse, Watergrill and View by Sydney.
The business is rolling out home delivery to the inner west with plans to expand across Sydney, catering to busy parents and professionals who want restaurant-quality food they can eat at home.
“Many of us are working longer hours and have less time to prepare meals,” he said. “Also working parents who are time poor. Our meals take the stress out of planning and cooking.”
His ready meals for two to four people include slow-cooked meats, Sri Lankan fish curries and classics such as shepherd’s pie, pork and fennel meatballs and pasta bakes.
“We specialize in really simple but classic food that people want to eat every day,” he said.
Australian ready meals manufacturer Beak & Johnston supplies more than a million meals each week under brands such as Simmone Logue, Strength Meals Co, Latina and Pasta Master.
The company’s chief commercial officer Shannon O’Connell said high protein and nutritionally balanced meals, including vegan and plant-based, were driving growth.
“Household penetration is at record levels, yet consumers still only buy into the category once in six weeks, demonstrating the ongoing opportunity that exists to continue growth,” she said. “Over the recent COVID-19 lockdowns there was a shift in demand for family-sized meals, specifically those that are more difficult or time-consuming to make from scratch such as a quiche, pie or lasagne.”
My Muscle Chef distributes more than half a million ready high-protein meals each week, according to the company’s chief executive Tushar Menon.
“While we still cater to a range of young people looking to refuel after their workouts, our customer profile has shifted significantly in recent years with more working professionals and young families buying My Muscle Chef,” he said.
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Patrick Kelleher, who runs a commercial property business in Manly, eats My Muscle Chef ready meals each week, usually opting for meat-based dishes while his wife and four children prefer pasta recipes.
“Family life and work life fill up the week and weekends so less time spent sourcing, preparing and cooking food the better,” he said.
Kelleher said the brand’s ready meals were “quick, healthy, filling and very convenient”.
“I have tried and tested many but a number fell short on criteria, mainly taste and variety,” he said.
Menon said customers wanted ready meals that were convenient and helped them achieve health goals such as weight loss, calorie control and muscle gain.
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“Programs like master chef have opened people’s eyes to cuisines from other cultures, different cooking techniques, and ingredients that wouldn’t traditionally have been part of the weekly shop or found on restaurant menus,” he said.
Coles’ brands of ready meals include Coles Kitchen, the plant-based Natures Kitchen, premium label Coles Finest and Coles Perform, a range of high-protein ready meals.
A Coles spokeswoman said shoppers purchased ready meals as a “midweek solution to feed the family” or as an affordable alternative to cooking from scratch, minimizing food waste and managing different dietary requirements and taste preferences.
“We know people are leading busy lives and are seeking a convenient meal solutions that give them time back, without compromising on taste or nutrition,” she said.
Butter chicken, spaghetti bolognese, lasagne and cottage pie are the most popular ready meals sold by Woolworths, but the supermarket giant is set to expand its range to include international cuisine.
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Woolworths Food Company managing director Guy Brent said the company regularly reviewed recipes to improve the quality and nutritional content of ready meals to “make them taste as close as possible if they were made from scratch in the home kitchen”.
“When you factor in the time needed to prep, cook, clean up as well as utilities used, time-poor customers love convenient solutions that allow them more time to get on with more exciting parts of life,” he said.
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