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- Meal prep, meal kits and an interview with Shauna Ghislieri
Meal prep, meal kits and an interview with Shauna Ghislieri
The owner of Cater to You discusses here thoughts on the meal prep space

For three weeks in January 2021 I was home sick with COVID-19. With no vaccine in sight, I was hit hard with the first strain of the virus. It was during this time where I experimented with home delivery meal kits, specifically Fresh Prep and Hello Fresh.
To say nothing of their quality, which was rather great I might add, I could never fully give myself over to the idea of what they symbolized. It felt like cheating in a way, that I was taking myself further from the essence of being close to the foods I choose to eat.
After a few weeks of meals, I’ve never bothered to use them again. Yet, in spite of my own personal feelings toward their existence, I often see videos of friends prepping their own weekly meals. I also know a lot of people who use both of these meal kit services.
To gather a bit of context for this topic, I reached out to a friend of mine, Shauna Ghislieri, who recently started her own meal prep company Cater to You. In speaking with her last month, she detailed her transition from hospitality and how it’s been a revelation for her overall happiness.
She recounted the amount of success she’s had so far, which for a solo endeavour can often be slow at the beginning. Below are five questions I asked her, to better understand the space of home delivery meal kits:
1. You worked in hospitality for years but now own and run your own business doing meal prep for individuals and businesses, what made you want to do this pivot?
All my life I’ve really enjoyed cooking in the kitchen. I developed cooking habits at a very young age, and instead of watching cartoons, I found myself watching the Food Network. In 2019 I decided to attend the Academy of Culinary Nutrition to boost my knowledge in the nutrition department.
I knew I wanted to start a meal prep business where I could nurture families and people who don’t have time to cook, or don’t necessarily have amazing skills in the kitchen. In 2021 I said goodbye to my serving career and started up my own meal prep business. I am finally able to be my own boss and work at my own pace and still be successful.
2. What is it that you offer and what have you noticed that people gravitate for?
"I offer in-home meal prep, or a delivered meal prep service. Portions of meals, to family style and snacks. Large party charcuterie boards, kids birthday parties, bridal showers, private dinner parties, and more! People love the family style meals so there are options for the whole family. I often do portioned meals for the macro counting individual."
3. What are the keys to good, healthy meal prep?
"Using whole foods and fresh ingredients. Placing a meal together based on proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. Always using complex carbs, too. Food that may last in the fridge for up to three-five days. Pickling, roasting, and different methods for keeping the food consumption well.
Soups, stews, jambalayas, braised meats, roasts, curries, dishes like these all heat up well."
4. Do you find there is a growing demand for what you do?
"Yes. One hundred percent I do. I also believe a lot of people aren’t aware that these services are provided. I have now introduced a lot of people to mine and have had continuing clients for over a year."
5. What are your thoughts on companies such as Fresh Prep or Hello Fresh?
"I believe these companies are a very good idea. I have tried them myself, for fun, and some of the meals are pretty tasty. Although some may be super high in fat. For the people who actually like to cook, and have time, all the ingredients are laid out for you and pre-measured. For people who don’t have time to cook I feel like a lot of the food would be wasted."
Lastly, to say nothing of her work or that of these two companies, my first two thoughts around this issue come from the recognition that we no longer know how to cook or, we don’t have the time to do so. As the weeks progress I’ll look to explore these questions with interviews and analysis from individuals who possess much more expertise on this topic than I do.
In the meantime, send in your ideas or feedback. I’d love to hear them. As well, please enjoy this detailed video from Levi and Leah. They go over the differences between the two companies in a very thoughtful way (even if their video is sponsored by Fresh Prep).
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