{"id":446,"date":"2026-01-19T13:10:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T13:10:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.meals.co.uk\/blog\/?p=446"},"modified":"2026-01-19T13:10:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T13:10:10","slug":"why-meals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.meals.co.uk\/blog\/why-meals\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Meals?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-mkgzluxy-9fb3fed5eff35ef1859879e559727586\">\n.avia-section.av-mkgzluxy-9fb3fed5eff35ef1859879e559727586 .av-parallax .av-parallax-inner{\nbackground-repeat:no-repeat;\nbackground-image:url(https:\/\/www.meals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/meals-chef-meal-prep-service-background-scaled.png);\nbackground-position:50% 100%;\nbackground-attachment:scroll;\n}\n.avia-section.av-mkgzluxy-9fb3fed5eff35ef1859879e559727586 .av-section-color-overlay{\nopacity:0.5;\nbackground-color:#000000;\n}\n<\/style>\n<div id='av_section_1'  class='avia-section av-mkgzluxy-9fb3fed5eff35ef1859879e559727586 main_color avia-section-default avia-no-border-styling  avia-builder-el-0  el_before_av_one_full  avia-builder-el-first  av-parallax-section avia-bg-style-parallax av-section-color-overlay-active av-minimum-height av-minimum-height-75 av-height-75  container_wrap fullsize'  data-section-bg-repeat='no-repeat' data-av_minimum_height_pc='75' data-av_min_height_opt='75'><div class='av-parallax' data-avia-parallax-ratio='0.3' ><div class='av-parallax-inner main_color avia-full-stretch'><\/div><\/div><div class=\"av-section-color-overlay-wrap\"><div class=\"av-section-color-overlay\"><\/div><div class='container av-section-cont-open' ><main  role=\"main\" itemprop=\"mainContentOfPage\"  class='template-page content  av-content-full alpha units'><div class='post-entry post-entry-type-page post-entry-446'><div class='entry-content-wrapper clearfix'>\n<div  class='flex_column av-4qn3a-0c58189ae8ebcf0a5945088149482001 av_one_fifth  avia-builder-el-1  el_before_av_three_fifth  avia-builder-el-first  first flex_column_div  '     ><\/div><div  class='flex_column av-13o2u6-ce258b106841b24f21baed84182acfc3 av_three_fifth  avia-builder-el-2  el_after_av_one_fifth  el_before_av_one_fifth  flex_column_div  '     ><section  class='av_textblock_section av-zbmw6-e69efd4de4509e8dba74f763ed483287 '   itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock'  itemprop=\"text\" ><h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #eb5f5d;\">Why<\/span> Meals?<\/h1>\n<p style=\"text-align: center; font-size: 20px;\">What are you really eating when a meal costs \u00a37.50, and how personal chef meals change the equation.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><br \/>\n<div  class='avia-button-wrap av-pbxti-79915f0d8f2cf3a8be4e63dc793d0a53-wrap avia_animated_button av-animated-when-visible-95 pop-up avia-button-center  avia-builder-el-4  el_after_av_textblock  avia-builder-el-last '>\n<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-pbxti-79915f0d8f2cf3a8be4e63dc793d0a53\">\n#top #wrap_all .avia-button.av-pbxti-79915f0d8f2cf3a8be4e63dc793d0a53{\nfont-size:18px;\ntransition:all 0.4s ease-in-out;\n}\n<\/style>\n<a href='https:\/\/www.meals.co.uk\/plan-&-pricing'  class='avia-button av-pbxti-79915f0d8f2cf3a8be4e63dc793d0a53 av-link-btn avia-icon_select-no avia-size-x-large avia-position-center avia-color-theme-color'  title=\"Meal Prep Chef\" aria-label=\"Meal Prep Chef\"><span class='avia_iconbox_title' >Plan & Pricing<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/p><\/div><div  class='flex_column av-njt6e-17468b71403d1f2263efb958632bf0b4 av_one_fifth  avia-builder-el-5  el_after_av_three_fifth  avia-builder-el-last  flex_column_div  '     ><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/main><!-- close content main element --><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id='after_section_1'  class='main_color av_default_container_wrap container_wrap fullsize'  ><div class='container av-section-cont-open' ><div class='template-page content  av-content-full alpha units'><div class='post-entry post-entry-type-page post-entry-446'><div class='entry-content-wrapper clearfix'><div  class='flex_column av-fdkl2-0b490e426d1b9f157dd1b27511c061d0 av_one_full  avia-builder-el-6  el_after_av_section  el_before_av_button_big  avia-builder-el-no-sibling  first flex_column_div  '     ><section  class='av_textblock_section av-mkgzb3xt-6ff6f207f553fcd9609a36710642ea6c '   itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock'  itemprop=\"text\" ><p>Meals is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.meals.co.uk\">chef meal prep service<\/a>, not factory meals being labelled as chef prepared. By definition, any meal prepared by someone in a kitchen could be described that way.<\/p>\n<p>What we mean by chef prepared is very literal.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.meals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-12-18-at-13.12.13-3-300x300.jpeg\" alt=\"athlete meal prep support\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.meals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-12-18-at-13.12.13-3-300x300.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.meals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-12-18-at-13.12.13-3-1028x1030.jpeg 1028w, https:\/\/www.meals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-12-18-at-13.12.13-3-80x80.jpeg 80w, https:\/\/www.meals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-12-18-at-13.12.13-3-768x770.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.meals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-12-18-at-13.12.13-3-36x36.jpeg 36w, https:\/\/www.meals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-12-18-at-13.12.13-3-180x180.jpeg 180w, https:\/\/www.meals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-12-18-at-13.12.13-3-703x705.jpeg 703w, https:\/\/www.meals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-12-18-at-13.12.13-3.jpeg 1320w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>When you use Meals, you are allocated <a href=\"https:\/\/www.meals.co.uk\/private-chef\/\">your own personal chef<\/a>. That chef either cooks in your home or prepares your meals and delivers them to you at a time and place that fits your routine. In many cases, that experience sits somewhere between a traditional private chef and a flexible weekly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.meals.co.uk\">meal prep service<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>That difference matters.<\/p>\n<p>We are trusted across professional sport, our parent company is the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dineindugle.co.uk\/reviews\">highest rated catering service in the UK<\/a>, and every week we deliver chef prepared meals to hundreds of high performers, athletes and families who want food that is convenient, high quality, healthy and built to support performance day after day.<\/p>\n<p>All of that sounds good. But the real question is this.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What actually sets Meals apart from other meal prep services or ready meal products?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>To answer that properly, there is a very important place to start.<\/p>\n<h3>Why People Trust Meals<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Trusted by professional athletes and teams across the UK<\/li>\n<li>Part of the UK\u2019s highest rated private catering group<\/li>\n<li>Used weekly by hundreds of families, executives and high performers<\/li>\n<li>Menus designed by an experienced food and nutrition team<\/li>\n<li>Meals cooked by vetted, professional chefs, not factories<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>A Very Important Place to Start, What Are You Actually Eating?<\/h3>\n<p>A common conversation we have with new customers starts the same way.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-368\" src=\"https:\/\/www.meals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/meal-prep-delivery-services.png-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"the benefits of meals over other meal prep delivery services\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.meals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/meal-prep-delivery-services.png-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.meals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/meal-prep-delivery-services.png-1030x687.jpg 1030w, https:\/\/www.meals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/meal-prep-delivery-services.png-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.meals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/meal-prep-delivery-services.png-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.meals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/meal-prep-delivery-services.png-1500x1000.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/www.meals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/meal-prep-delivery-services.png-705x470.jpg 705w, https:\/\/www.meals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/meal-prep-delivery-services.png.jpg 1800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>\u201cWe\u2019ve tried meal prep services before.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The feedback is usually familiar. The meals were poor quality, tasteless or overly salty, small, off the shelf and not personalised. But they were reasonably priced, often \u00a37 to \u00a310 per meal.<\/p>\n<p>And to be fair, many of those meals taste ok. Salt is cheap. Given the constraints of producing food at scale to a fixed price point, a lot of these meal prep companies do not do a bad job.<\/p>\n<p>What most people do not really stop to think about is this.<\/p>\n<p>If you are paying \u00a37.50 for a factory made, direct to consumer meal prep product from a popular nationwide meal prep service, what are you actually eating once margins, logistics and overheads are accounted for?<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s look at a real, direct comparison.<\/p>\n<h3>Spaghetti Bolognese, Factory Made vs Chef Made<\/h3>\n<h4>Factory Made, Direct to Consumer Meal Prep<\/h4>\n<p>From a popular nationwide meal prep service.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Price:<\/strong> \u00a37.50<\/li>\n<li><strong>Calories:<\/strong> ~538 kcal<\/li>\n<li><strong>How it is made:<\/strong> Factory produced at scale<\/li>\n<li><strong>Upper realistic ingredient spend:<\/strong> \u00a31.20 to \u00a31.40<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>That \u00a31.20 to \u00a31.40 must cover everything in the tray, beef mince, pasta, sauce, vegetables, oil and seasoning.<\/p>\n<p>Once factory labour, packaging, chilled distribution, warehousing, marketing, overheads and margin are accounted for, this is the maximum the maths allows.<\/p>\n<p>To make this viable, the meal is carefully formulated. Pasta delivers cheap calories. Sauce carries added water for yield. Meat quantities are tightly controlled. Vegetables are included sparingly. Flavour is driven by seasoning rather than cooking time or reduction.<\/p>\n<p>This is not about good or bad. It is simply how mass produced meal prep works at this price point.<\/p>\n<h4>Chef Made Spaghetti Bolognese by Meals.co.uk<\/h4>\n<p>This is <strong>Meals\u2019 medium portion default spaghetti bolognese<\/strong>, cooked fresh by a professional chef using standard supermarket quality ingredients.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Calories:<\/strong> ~590 to 600 kcal<\/li>\n<li><strong>How it is made:<\/strong> Cooked fresh by your allocated personal chef<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ingredient spend:<\/strong> \u00a34.00 to \u00a34.50 per meal<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The ingredient list includes:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>5% beef mince in a meaningful portion<\/li>\n<li>Olive oil<\/li>\n<li>Fresh brown onion and fresh garlic<\/li>\n<li>Tomato puree and tinned tomatoes<\/li>\n<li>Beef stock, diluted and reduced during cooking<\/li>\n<li>Spaghetti<\/li>\n<li>Tendersweet carrots and tenderstem greens<\/li>\n<li>Italian hard cheese<\/li>\n<li>Sea salt flakes, black pepper and oregano<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There are no flavour systems, binders or yield fillers. The flavour comes from cooking technique, ingredient balance and time, exactly what you would expect from a private chef style service.<\/p>\n<p>That <strong>\u00a34.00 to \u00a34.50<\/strong> represents <strong>only the food itself<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>It does not include the time required to shop, plan, prepare, cook, clean and deliver the meals. Those elements are charged transparently and separately as one clear hourly chef rate, which is why Meals works best when customers order multiple meals at once. As chefs scale their time efficiently across more meals, the <strong>cost per meal becomes more cost effective<\/strong>, without any reduction in ingredient quality or portion size.<\/p>\n<h3 data-start=\"226\" data-end=\"257\">The Difference, Side by Side<\/h3>\n<div class=\"TyagGW_tableContainer\">\n<div class=\"group TyagGW_tableWrapper flex flex-col-reverse w-fit\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n<table class=\"w-fit min-w-(--thread-content-width)\" data-start=\"259\" data-end=\"652\">\n<thead data-start=\"259\" data-end=\"305\">\n<tr data-start=\"259\" data-end=\"305\">\n<th data-start=\"259\" data-end=\"261\" data-col-size=\"sm\"><\/th>\n<th data-start=\"261\" data-end=\"281\" data-col-size=\"sm\">Factory Made Meal<\/th>\n<th data-start=\"281\" data-end=\"305\" data-col-size=\"sm\">Meals Chef Made Meal<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody data-start=\"320\" data-end=\"652\">\n<tr data-start=\"320\" data-end=\"369\">\n<td data-start=\"320\" data-end=\"334\" data-col-size=\"sm\">Price shown<\/td>\n<td data-col-size=\"sm\" data-start=\"334\" data-end=\"342\">\u00a37.50<\/td>\n<td data-col-size=\"sm\" data-start=\"342\" data-end=\"369\">Ingredients + chef time<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr data-start=\"370\" data-end=\"413\">\n<td data-start=\"370\" data-end=\"381\" data-col-size=\"sm\">Calories<\/td>\n<td data-col-size=\"sm\" data-start=\"381\" data-end=\"393\">~538 kcal<\/td>\n<td data-col-size=\"sm\" data-start=\"393\" data-end=\"413\">~590 to 600 kcal<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr data-start=\"414\" data-end=\"446\">\n<td data-start=\"414\" data-end=\"428\" data-col-size=\"sm\"><strong data-start=\"416\" data-end=\"427\">Protein<\/strong><\/td>\n<td data-col-size=\"sm\" data-start=\"428\" data-end=\"437\">~30.9g<\/td>\n<td data-col-size=\"sm\" data-start=\"437\" data-end=\"446\">~40g+<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr data-start=\"447\" data-end=\"501\">\n<td data-start=\"447\" data-end=\"466\" data-col-size=\"sm\">Ingredient spend<\/td>\n<td data-col-size=\"sm\" data-start=\"466\" data-end=\"483\">\u00a31.20 to \u00a31.40<\/td>\n<td data-col-size=\"sm\" data-start=\"483\" data-end=\"501\">\u00a34.00 to \u00a34.50<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr data-start=\"502\" data-end=\"569\">\n<td data-start=\"502\" data-end=\"521\" data-col-size=\"sm\">How it is cooked<\/td>\n<td data-start=\"521\" data-end=\"540\" data-col-size=\"sm\">Factory produced<\/td>\n<td data-col-size=\"sm\" data-start=\"540\" data-end=\"569\">Cooked fresh by your chef<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr data-start=\"570\" data-end=\"652\">\n<td data-start=\"570\" data-end=\"597\" data-col-size=\"sm\">Where flavour comes from<\/td>\n<td data-col-size=\"sm\" data-start=\"597\" data-end=\"625\">Seasoning and formulation<\/td>\n<td data-col-size=\"sm\" data-start=\"625\" data-end=\"652\">Ingredients and cooking<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">This is not a small difference.<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>It is more calories, nearly three times the ingredient spend, and a completely different approach to meal prep.<\/p>\n<h3>Why This Matters<\/h3>\n<p>When you buy a factory made meal prep product, most of what you are paying for sits around the food, packaging, transport, infrastructure and marketing.<\/p>\n<p>When you use Meals, <strong>most of your money becomes food<\/strong>, and the rest pays for a professional personal chef to prepare it properly for you.<\/p>\n<p>The cost of ingredients is clear. The value you are paying for is the chef\u2019s expertise, creativity and time.<\/p>\n<p>One model hides ingredient compromises inside a fixed retail price.<\/p>\n<p>The other makes the cost of food explicit.<\/p>\n<h3>One Final Difference That Matters<\/h3>\n<p>Meals dishes are not fixed or off the shelf.<\/p>\n<p>Every dish on the Meals menu is a starting point, not a finished product. Each one is designed as a foundation that can be adapted around the person eating it.<\/p>\n<p>Need a <strong>larger or smaller portion<\/strong>? Any dish can be increased or reduced by up to <strong>40%<\/strong> from its default size.<\/p>\n<p>Need something more specific? No problem.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Higher protein<\/li>\n<li>Higher carbohydrate<\/li>\n<li>Lower fat<\/li>\n<li>Gluten free<\/li>\n<li>Dairy free<\/li>\n<li>Or tailored around a particular training or lifestyle requirement<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>We simply create a variant of that dish for you.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Not a fan of the flavour profile? That can be adjusted too. More spice, less richness, lighter sauces, stronger flavours, all easily changed for the next cook.<\/p>\n<p>Because your meals are <strong>hand prepared by your own chef<\/strong>, nothing is locked in. Recipes evolve. Portions adapt. Preferences are remembered.<\/p>\n<p>That level of flexibility is not something traditional meal prep services or factory meals can ever offer.<\/p>\n<h3>The Question Worth Asking<\/h3>\n<p>If a <strong>\u00a37.50 meal from a popular nationwide meal prep service<\/strong> can only afford <strong>\u00a31.20 to \u00a31.40 of ingredients<\/strong> and delivers <strong>~538 calories<\/strong>, it is fair to ask what compromises are required to make that work.<\/p>\n<p>And how different that same dish becomes when there is no tight budget constraint placed on the ingredients, only a focus on delivering the best possible outcome for you in terms of health, performance and overall eating experience, guided by a professional chef.<\/p>\n<p>That difference is what chef made meals deliver.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div><div  class='avia-button-wrap avia-button-center  avia-builder-el-8  el_after_av_one_full  avia-builder-el-last '>\n<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-bjr5y-dbecf75679df78f800da846a550187b5\">\n#top #wrap_all .avia-button.av-bjr5y-dbecf75679df78f800da846a550187b5:hover{\ncolor:white;\nopacity:0.9;\ntransition:all 0.4s ease-in-out;\n}\n#top #wrap_all .avia-button.av-bjr5y-dbecf75679df78f800da846a550187b5:hover .avia-svg-icon svg:first-child{\nfill:white;\nstroke:white;\n}\n<\/style>\n<a href='https:\/\/www.meals.co.uk\/plan-&-pricing' class='avia-color-theme-color-highlight avia-font-color-theme-color avia-button avia-button-fullwidth av-bjr5y-dbecf75679df78f800da846a550187b5 avia-icon_select-no avia-color-theme-color-highlight'  title=\"Meal Prep Service Plans &amp; Pricing\" aria-label=\"Meal Prep Service Plans &amp; Pricing\"><span class='avia_iconbox_title' >Get Started<\/span><div class='av-button-description av-button-description-below'><p>Plans &#038; Pricing<\/p>\n<\/div><span class='avia_button_background avia-button avia-button-fullwidth avia-color-theme-color-highlight'><\/span><\/a><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":447,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-meal-prep","category-personal-chef"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Why Meals? What \u00a37.50 Really Buys You in Meal Prep Services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Why we&#039;re different from mass-produced meal prep services. Discover how personal chef made meals &amp; real ingredients delivers better quality.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.meals.co.uk\/blog\/why-meals\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Meals? What \u00a37.50 Really Buys You in Meal Prep Services\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Why we&#039;re different from mass-produced meal prep services. 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