20 minutes with Evelyn Garland, Simply Fit Food

How did the Simply Fit Food business start?

My partner Luke got sick in 2015 and was diagnosed with a heart condition. This was really the catalyst for the business because he needed healthy, nutritious food as part of his recovery diet. We could see there was no healthy, on-the-go, convenience products out there in the market so we decided to just start making our own and started the business together in September 2016.

How did you build the business?

We first launched Simply Fit Food in September 2016 as an online meal delivery business. We used all of our savings to bootstrap the business and kickstart it to the next level. We started cooking from a kitchen at home three times a week and were doing all the deliveries ourselves. After that, we used the cashflow from sales to keep things moving. Orders started coming in quite frequently early on, because there was no other business like ours in the region.

We could see there was no healthy, on-the-go, convenience products out there in the market so we decided to just start making our own

Who were your customers in the early days?

Our customers were typically young working professionals and first time parents in the Louth, Meath, Monaghan and North Dublin area. They were time-poor, health conscious people who wanted to eat healthily but just didn’t have the time or the cooking know-how.

How has the business model evolved since?

In 2017 we rented a large scale kitchen and expanded our offering to customers nationwide. We also got a lot of positive exposure after appearing on Dragon’s Den. But the volume of orders surged after this and our website started to crash. We got so big so fast and it posed a lot of challenges. This made us really think about the business and the business model. So that led us down the retail route to market, where we outsource all our manufacturing, packaging and deliveries. We now just focus on the sales, marketing and product development side of things.

We got so big so fast and it posed a lot of challenges

What retailers do you supply now?

We started supplying our meals to the local SuperValu in Drogheda and it proved really successful. We’re now selling our ready-meals and plant-based soups to SuperValu, Centra, Dunnes Stores, Applegreen and Spar.

How has the product range evolved?

We started out making meat-based ready meal products like Thai chicken curry, chicken arrabbiata, Asian stir fry and a Cajun chicken and sweet potato dish, which are still selling really well. But our customers started to tell us they were eating more of a flexitarian diet during the week and wanted a vegetarian offering. So we launched our new power bowls at the start of January 2020, which are a range of vegetarian meals. This new vegetarian product range is manufactured in Ireland with 80% of the ingredients sourced from suppliers in Meath, Louth and North Dublin.

We’re actively looking for an outside investor to come in and help bring the brand to the next level

Are you looking for investment in the business?

Yes. We’re at that growth stage now where we’re actively looking for an outside investor to come in and help bring the brand to the next level. We’re also looking to enter the UK market soon and we’re talking to some customer leads. Our turnover has grown over 200% in the last year to just under €1m.