Life is busy and meal prep options are increasingly popular, and now there’s a local, fresh alternative to national food delivery services.
Nourished Meal Prep was set up last September by Chanel Morales to offer home-cooked food delivered twice a week to homes in Northamptonshire that provide a fresh and healthy option for customers who don’t have time to cook and don’t want to rely on ready meals and takeaways.
In April, Chanel joined forces with a friend who was opening the Coconut Paradise Caribbean Café in Gold Street Mews in Northampton to open Nourished up for one-off meals either from the premises or through food delivery apps.
Nourished came about after Chanel, who ran her own business coaching company from home before taking three years to travel the world with her daughter – during which time she got to experience the amazing flavours of world cuisine – returned home and found herself looking for a new challenge.
“Coming home and finding that I was back to working online, at a desk all day, and caring for my daughter, I felt my mental health was suffering,” she explained. “I wanted to do something with my hands, to make something, but I didn’t know what. Eventually, I asked myself what is something I would do for free if I had the chance and realised that cooking for family and friends was something I loved.
“I could see how popular all the national chains are becoming, and lots of people meal prep now because they are so busy, and so that’s what I went for. Restaurant chef hours wouldn’t have worked for me, so this was the perfect option.”
Since September, Chanel has been doing trials on all kinds of different foods and has finally settled on a four-week rotation menu which offers seven different meals to choose from each week. Her influences come from her family background, which is a mix of Peruvian, English and Caribbean, plus Mexican and Thai dishes that were her favourites during her travels. Vegetarian and vegan options and alternatives are available and everything is made from scratch, including all the sauces and marinades.
At the moment Chanel makes all the food herself and has a delivery driver as well as someone helping out in the café and managing the social media.
When the chance arose earlier this year to go into a café business with her friend, Ash, Chanel saw opportunities to expand her business.
“Since the meal prep business launched in September I’ve been really happy with the response,” she said. “We have customers who have supported us from day one and it’s gone really well. We deliver twice a week and we’re local, so the meals are fresher, and will keep in the fridge without having to be frozen.
“But they have to be ordered in batches and I could see there was an opportunity through the café. Firstly, people in the town centre can come in and pick up a healthy meal at lunchtime, and food delivery services like Deliveroo will only deliver from commercial premises, so it means we are now able to take online orders.”
The family friendly café, with a kids’ corner to keep the little ones occupied, also has an outdoor space that is available for customers, and which can be utilised free of charge by community groups or charities looking for a place to meet for lunch or a snack and a drink.
Nourished also offers catering for businesses, providing fresh, healthy spreads for a number of Christmas parties last year, and can deliver food for companies that have guests or staff gathering for meetings or social events.
Chanel said:
“Now that I’ve got my recipes worked out, my ultimate goal is to have a chef. I have been a single mum and I know how hard it can be. I’d love to find a chef that doesn’t want the long unsocial hours of being in a restaurant kitchen, someone who has a passion for cooking but would find it difficult to work normal restaurant kitchen hours.
“I saw space in the market for meal prep and I’m now in a position to reach more people through the café and push on and expand, giving people in town or at home a healthy option when they haven’t got time to prepare a meal from scratch themselves.”
Nourished Meal Prep delivers across Northampton and the surrounding villages, and to Wellingborough and Kettering and the surrounding villages, and details of menu choices, minimum orders and delivery charges are available on the website.
Find out more at the Nourished website.
