What do you get when you combine the forces of surplus food, a conscious catering business and the latest in technological innovation? A revolution in ready meals!
As part of our community focused work, we're delighted to be working with The Bread and Butter Thing, an organisation who focus on making life more affordable for people living on low income. Together we are working to expand the possibilities of surplus food by cooking up a storm and embracing the very latest in vacuum packing technology to make ready meals with a difference.
Low-cost ready meal’s are often packed full of sugar, salt and fat. Utilising the skills of our highly dedicated chefs and surplus food from The Bread and Butter Thing, we’re creating healthy, nutritious and (importantly!) delicious ready-made meals that can feed a family of four.
Mark Game, TBBT CEO told us: "Every week our affordable food service provides our members with a nutritious mix of fruit, veg, chilled and cupboard goods to enable them to eat healthily. But we recognise that many of the families we support have complex needs, juggle multiple jobs and value the ease and convenience of an occasional ready-made meal. In our partnership with Open Kitchen MCR, we are combining the principles of healthy, home cooked food with convenience."
To cater to the current demand, we were kindly gifted the latest vac pac technology from Sous Vide. In practical terms this is a really big step forward, because by using vacuum packing we can create fresh chilled meals that remain safe to reheat at home for 7 days. This means that TBBT members can use them within the week when it's convenient, rather than on a short 'Use By' deadline, making them even more convenient and ensuring less food waste at home too.
As with everything that TBBT does, the surplus food available changes week by week, meaning the menu of ready meals from us will be wide and varied. Mark Game says: "Open Kitchen MCR’s wealth of catering expertise will put to good use a whole variety of surplus food from seasonal veg to bags of beans that we provide. They'll stop even more fresh produce from going to waste by cooking up what's available each week into hearty stews, curries and hot pots. All the meals are one-pot-wonders, making it really easy for our members to heat up and serve. They'll make a great addition to the weekly offering from TBBT."
The all new ready meals will be available to TBBT members as part of the standard weekly bags offered by the affordable food service.