The mum-and-dad entrepreneurs delivering healthy food options to time-poor families across the state
Are you dreading the frantic side of the silly season? Here are six SA businesses that can help you solve one of life’s biggest dilemmas – what’s for dinner.
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A humble band of mum-and-dad entrepreneurs is taking meal-delivery to new heights across the state, offering “nurturing”, homemade dishes for the entire family to enjoy.
The mealtime saviours are intent on making it easier for other time-poor parents to focus on doing the important stuff, like ferrying kids to after-school sporting commitments and helping with the homework.
They’ve each been inspired in different ways, from chorused conversations of “what’s for dinner?” at school pick-up to a pandemic-driven, fine-dining pivot.
But local produce and healthy meal options are at the heart of each.
Today we meet the faces behind six successful homegrown companies, nestled across suburban Adelaide and in regional SA, quietly pushing aside global food kit companies.
Chef dad-of-four Alek Korcz, who in a former life – well 20-odd years ago – was playing hockey for his home country of Poland, is one.
He and wife Moncia Pugh run Edwardstown-based The Prep House, preparing and packaging family favourite meals for pick-up and delivery across Adelaide.
Be warned, you might get hungry. Or, you might just let out a sigh of relief, happy in the knowledge mealtime help isn’t as far away as you might think.
The Prep House, Edwardstown
When dad’s an Olympic hockey player and qualified chef, it’s no surprise family dinnertime is synonymous with nutritious, good quality food.
In fact, there was a time, meals were a bit too fine in the sportsmad Korcz household.
Dad-of-four Alek Korcz, who competed for Poland at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, would bring home indulgent plates for his young family while working as a chef and helping build a local handmade stock business.
“(He) would bring home food from work … truffled polenta, oyster sabayon and beef cheeks in vino cotto – all amazing but for this mother of very small children, kind of perplexing,” wife Monica Pugh laughs.
“In 2017 we were approached by a glamping company in outback WA to create a menu of fully-cooked camp meals that could be taken remotely and reheated for their guests.
“This camp food came home – butter chicken, bolognese and beef stroganoff.
“It was so easy, the kids loved it and I was so thankful. I told Alek that we needed to give this to everyone, as it was such a help … so that’s how our direct-to-public range began.”
The couple, who met when Alek arrived in Adelaide for a training camp ahead of the Olympics, have been growing their food-delivery service, catering to families, since.
Today the business duo, also parents to sporting children Isaiah, almost 18, Lilia, 15, Eli, 13, and Miki, 10, employ a dozen staff, including chefs, to cater for growing demand.
“It’s really become full-on since 2018 when the family meals really began to grow … (our) family range, “din.a.dun”, is constantly, organically growing,” Ms Pugh says.
“Luckily, we were one of the first to offer fully-cooked … family-style meals; there are plenty of singles and couples food but when you get bigger (portions), the supermarket ones tend to taste like cardboard. Our food is all made traditionally by local chefs with love.
“Our meals are about helping busy families who have a million things on … to allow more time to spend helping with homework, driving to sports or even just being able to stop and listen instead of rushing home and preparing (dinner).”
Meals are delivered to different areas of Adelaide during the week with a delivery to Murray Bridge once a month.
As well as supporting his children’s sporting endeavours – Eli has just represented the state in hockey – Alek, continues to hone his stock-making business.
“He has spent the past five years creating a new product … (we hope) it will be a game-changer in the hospo scene … the only Aussie-owned-and-made powder (to create stocks and sauces),” Ms Pugh says.
The Family Cook, Hectorville
The seed for mum-of-two Victoria Braithwaite’s The Family Cook was sown in her children’s school playground.
“I wanted to help busy families answer the age-old question, ‘What’s for dinner?’,” she recalls.
“Standing in the playground … I asked, ‘What if you could pick dinner and your child up at the same time?’
“A lot of parents thought it was a brilliant idea and so I started cooking dinners during school hours so that parents could collect at school pick-up time.”
And so, in 2017 from its “very humble beginnings” the food-delivery business was formed, growing to employ 12 staff, delivering meals across Adelaide as well as to the Barossa, Murray Bridge and Victor Harbor.
“It was pretty full on; I would drop the kids to school, do the grocery shopping, take all the cooking equipment and food to a hired kitchen, cook during the day, pack it all up and deliver to families at school,” she says.
“Within a year this extended to home-delivery and employing what was to be the beginning of our amazing team, including head chef Louise Del Vecchio and production manager Nicole Kosmas.”
Ms Braithwaite says the “mission has always been to provide as many people as possible with nutritious, wholesome, nurturing meals”, sourcing local produce.
“We want our meals to taste like someone who loves you has made them, so they are incredibly nurturing … we are here to help with the day-to-day but also when life is not going as planned, or you need extra support,” she says.
The NDIS-registered provider has a growing client base across the aged-care sector and also, in a partnership with Burnside Hospital, provides meals for new parents.
And how does she juggle demands of a growing small business with raising a family?
“I remember when I first started, I asked inspirational women in business this question a lot,” she says.
“The advice I was given I would pass on to others: ‘as soon as you can, outsource help’ … trying to do it all yourself is overrated and you will get burnt out.
“All the women in my family provided inspiration, particularly my grandmothers, mum and mother in-law … whether it’s family get-togethers or cooking for school fetes and fundraisers, the common denominator is showing you are cared for and sharing your love through beautifully-cooked food – it’s where stories are shared and food is the language of love.”
As well as home delivery, The Family Cook offers a “click and collect” at its Hectorville store. In September the business was named a Top 20 Finalist in the South Australian Food and Beverage Industry Award in the Consumer Awards Category.
Chefs on Wheels, Glynde
When Covid hit, celebrated chef Paul Baker’s career was catapulted into a new direction; from chef at one of the state’s finest restaurants to mastermind behind a growing home food-delivery service.
“The original concept behind Chefs on Wheels was to facilitate deliveries from some of South Australia’s best restaurants direct to people’s homes as the state went into lockdown during the pandemic,” Mr Baker says.
“Chefs on Wheels launched in March 2020, just days before the nationwide lockdown.
“Keeping as many restaurants and producers in business was the main goal. … now we just love making people’s lives easier with our meals, and knowing that families have amazing food ready to go whenever they need is what gets us out of bed everyday.”
The enterprise started with five staff but quickly grew to a team of more than 20.
“When the lockdowns were lifted and the restaurants were able to trade again we began to bring production in-house,” he says.
“Now our team of chefs cook all of the dishes … at our production facility in Glynde.”
Mr Baker, who works alongside wife Annabelle to run the business with partner Jimmy Day, says there’s been an added shining light in the career U-turn, getting to spend more quality time with his beloved daughter.
“Having a business that works predominantly during the day, Monday to Friday, gives us the work/life balance to spend plenty of time with family and friends and especially my high-energy, six-year-old daughter Margot which was something I greatly missed pre-Covid,” he says.
“Living and working locally also really helps with the school/work juggle … I now run a business that is incredibly diverse and forward-thinking but most of all allows me the time to do the things I love.”
The fine dining concept remains key in the Chefs on Wheels home-delivery model, with a range of kids’ meals and “family tray bakes” also available.
“We wanted to change people’s perceptions of what ready-made meals can be … coming from a fine dining background (enjoyment of our dishes) is something I’ll never compromise on,” he says.
“All recipes start with making everything from scratch – whether it’s marinating meats, brining chickens or roasting our own spices.
“We’ve even built our own test kitchen and photography studio to test recipes in the equivalent of a domestic kitchen and to film content for our community.”
As well as delivering across Adelaide and regional SA, Chefs on Wheels is available on the eastern seaboard, “from Brisbane down through NSW including the ACT and throughout Victoria”.
In 2022 the company also launched a social enterprise in collaboration with new mothers’ not-for-profit The Village Co, dubbed “a nourished week”.
“Our aim is to provide a week’s worth of meals to some of the state’s most vulnerable new mothers … we are now delivering an average of a dozen meal boxes a week, but many more are needed.”
Vintage Chef Co, Gawler
In just five years, down-to-earth Barossa mum Teagan Carpenter has created a bona fide food empire, employing more than 60 people across Vintage Chef Co’s three divisions – catering, meal prep and cafe divisions.
In terms of meal prep and food delivery, 7500 meals are being delivered weekly statewide with plans to expand nationally.
“As a Barossa-based company, we knew the need for regional deliveries and pick up points,” Ms Carpenter says.
“We deliver to all built up areas and also Adelaide Hills, Fleurieu Peninsula, Clare Valley and have pick up points in (towns including) Moonta Bay, Port Pirie, Kadina and Crystal Brook.”
A professional chef, the mum-of-three grew up in the hospitality industry – her mum owned
A professional chef, the mum-of-three grew up in the hospitality industry – her mum owned The Lord Lyndoch – and says she drew inspiration from her family.
“I was inspired daily with the passion, drive and devotion my family had into working hard and doing things right … customer-service and manners were ingrained into me from birth,” she says.
“My grandmother, Nannee, played a massive role in my passion for food and catering.
“I love that woman and spent most weekends with her while growing up, reading cookbooks and cooking our little hearts out.
“I love experiencing the joy on people’s faces when they enjoy my food … I take inspiration from home-cooked favourites that everyone loves, especially the ones that take hours to prepare in the kitchen, allowing customers to enjoy it in three minutes.
Ms Carpenter maintains her “thriving business just happened organically”, describing how as a busy mum, at the time running her own catering business and “working crazy hours”, she would pre-cook meals for her family.
“(Also), my husband Ethan was spending $20-plus a day on lunch while at work in the construction industry, so I also saw the cost saving benefit in meal prepping,” she says.
“Once we started eating these pre-prepped meals, all of Ethan‘s friends at work were wanting to buy them.
“This then spread to friends and family, and that’s when I started my Facebook page and started selling them via the platform.
“Shortly after, we launched a website and the rest is history … we started with two staff members. We are currently expanding our production kitchen on our rural commercial property to keep up with our growth.”
The hope is to now franchise the business’s cafe set-up and to sell meals Australia-wide.
In July, Vintage Chef Co took over the Starplex cafe at Gawler, at the heart of the sprawling community recreation hub located within the grounds of Trinity College.
When asked what she is most proud of, as the face of a multi-layer, multimillion-dollar hospitality business, she doesn’t hesitate.
“My team is amazing, allowing me to have crazy ideas and they do all the hard work bringing them to reality,” she says.
“I have sacrificed so much having three young children while starting an empire but after five short years I have a beautiful balance and the most rewarding life to live with all my loved ones around me … (I feel) so blessed and proud.”
Gym Challenge Meals also marketed as GCM, Mount Gambier
Despite owning his own cafe, Alex Marlow’s transition into the meal-delivery service was purely by happenstance – and a lot of hard work.
“Like most compelling stories that ignite our imagination and capture our heart, the story of how GCM started is filled with leaps of faith, determination, challenges and exciting wins,” he says.
Rewind to 2017 when he was running the local hospital’s cafe and, by his own admission, working long hours, neglecting his health and “piling on the kilos”.
So, he joined the local F45 gym and, as well as the workouts, opted into an eight-week challenge that included set food recommendations.
As well as making his own meals during the challenge, he offered to make some for his gym buddies also.
“The first day I sold 10 or 12 … a few weeks later I was selling between 20 to 30 a day and it just snowballed from there – three or four weeks later, we were doing 100 meals a day,” he recalls.
Eventually, he would sell the cafe to focus on creating and selling healthy food and meals for people in the southeast, fitting out a former office with a kitchen and shopfront.
“I threw myself into this ‘shitstorm’ of financial pressure but I just always knew there was something to this concept … it is just good, healthy food.
“When we opened our new shop in January 2020, we wanted it to be more than a place for people to come to pick up their meals, we wanted people to be able to get a coffee, or a smoothie or pressed juice … to browse the meals on the shelf.
“We wanted to make a healthy takeaway option a reality for people … SA Opposition leader David Speirs was in here the other day and said, ‘I wish we had one of these in Hallett Cove.’
“Everyone has stress and is time poor … sometimes you need to grab some takeaway and if you can get food that is healthy, already prepared and that tastes good, all of a sudden you can do something kind for yourself.”
GCM meals are now stocked by retailers across South Australia and western Victoria while the delivery zone has also been expanded.
“We found such a high demand from our neighbouring towns, that we began weekly home delivery throughout Warrnambool, Portland, Hamilton, Port Fairy, Casterton, Naracoorte, Tarpeena, Nangwarry, and Penola,” he says.
The business now employs about a dozen staff and Mr Marlow is looking to franchise the concept.
“We are moving full steam ahead, getting the procedures and processes down, detailing how to operate the business so our recipes and procedures can be replicated and taken into other towns and areas, and that’s exciting,” he says.
Away from work, Mr Marlow is dad to Archie, 11, Henry, 8 and Audrey, 3, and husband to Kylie.
Adelaide Food Service – Dinner King, Glandore
One of Adelaide’s first homegrown food delivery businesses, Adelaide Food Service was set up almost three decades ago by Army cook Brett Saville and his brother Blake.
Today Blake and his wife Kasia manage the day-to-day running of the no-frills business which is targeted at providing affordable meals for older residents as well as people living by themselves.
“(Brett and Blake) both saw the lack of services in place at that time which aimed to support
independent living for the single as well as aged individuals,” Mrs Saville says.
“We are very proud of the fact that over the years we’ve had the opportunity and privilege of supporting thousands of families … being able to offer access to nutritious, home-style meals
eases the burden and worry for both parent and adult child.”
She says many customers of the NDIS-preferred supplier are valued, long-term patrons, some coming to first use the service after losing a life partner.
“(It goes beyond) delivering meals to getting to know (our customers) and becoming someone they can trust and talk to … that is priceless,” she says.
“We know their likes and dislikes and aim to cater to their unique tastes … for us, making things personal and quickly building rapport with our customers is important.”
And, she says clientele extends beyond the elderly with time-poor parents also stocking up on meals to feed their families.
“We also get a lot of tradies who’ll stock up for the week and even fly-in, fly-out workers who’ll buy our meals to take with them to eat while they are away,” she says.
“All items are handcrafted at our Glandore base from carefully selected local ingredients, then distributed to homes all around Adelaide … we also deliver to Victor Harbor, the Barossa and Murray Bridge.
“Our kitchen operates five days … running your own business is tricky when balancing a family (but) we have managed to be there for our teenage daughter as well as fulfil the
ever-growing demands of the business.”
In store purchase of soups, main courses, desserts is also available.
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