Northumberland’s Graeme Stewart has always had a fascination with food and after years of temptation finally ventured into the catering industry when he and his friend Chris Dodds launched Eezy Food in March 2021.

In the last year or so a number of food box services have popped up. Unimpressed by what was already available, the pair decided to enter the market with their own.

Whilst Marcus Rashford was giving the Prime Minister a headache over lockdown free school meals, the government’s £20-a-week increase in universal credit posed both a challenge and opportunity to Graeme, of Cramlington near Newcastle.

He said: “I wanted to help families get the most out of that extra £20.

“The solution was the Value Box.

“We began by putting together delicious meal plans which could be afforded and enjoyed by everyone.

“The Value Box delivers excellent quality food for five days for as little as £1.17 per portion.

“It’s cheaper and much easier than shopping for the items yourself.”

Chris said: “We noticed there was a gap in the market for an affordable recipe box to provide access to quality food without the premium price.

“We believe everyone should be eating three healthy meals a day. Our mission is to provide customers with high quality sustainable ingredients with recipes that are easy to cook at home, whilst also reducing food waste.”

On what Eezy Food is up against and how he plans to be different, Graeme said: “I looked at the existing offering of brands like Gousto and HelloFresh. They’re predominantly aimed at middle-England, medium-to-high income households.

“With the established companies you’re also limited in terms of options. You have to buy a two-person or four-person box. Obviously that doesn’t work for every family.

“We are bringing out a one-person box. It’s ideal for students and it gives parents peace of mind that their son or daughter is eating properly. It eliminates the need for a food allowance.

“The subscription model is inconvenient for customers and leads to a bad retention rate among the companies who use them.

“We believe customers prefer flexibility and control to lengthy commitments, so have chosen not to operate on this model.”

This decision has paid off as Graeme said: “HelloFresh only retain around 25% of their customers, whereas we typically retain about 50%.”

On the contents of the boxes, he said: “The meat is all sourced from our local Nicholson’s Family Butchers in Whitley Bay.

“Likewise with the veg, we buy it directly from a local green grocer, Cramlington Veg Box.

“The dry goods come from the national restaurant supplier Bidfood so are of the best quality available.

“By sourcing the produce from wholesalers, we are able to keep the cost of the box low whilst keeping the quality of the contents.

Chris said: “We know cooking at home can be one of life’s pleasures, however, it can quickly feel like a chore without the right preparation or knowing what to do.

“We deliver everything needed to make delicious recipes with precisely measured ingredients and easy to follow digital recipe cards.”

Graeme continued: “The Create Your Own Box is the first of its kind in that it provides breakfast, lunch and dinner ingredients. Until this month it was the only one to do so.

“The thermal pouches keep the food fresh for as much as 48 hours, so it doesn’t matter if the customer is out when it arrives.”

Graeme revealed about Eezy Food’s upcoming projects: “The plan is to produce a fitness-orientated box. We’re collaborating with personal trainers and dieticians to design meals which deliver results in the gym.

“Often when people join fitness plans they have to buy all sorts of specialist ingredients. These can be expensive and the recipes typically only call for a small amount.

“For example, you could buy a jar of almond butter for £5 or £6 and end up only using a teaspoon of it for a smoothie. The rest gets wasted.

“We’re aiming to solve this by configuring the boxes to only contain what you need. It’s cheaper, easier and saves waste.

“We also want to introduce tasty treats to the boxes.

“These might be ready-baked snacks or desserts like brownies or kits to make them yourselves.

“Once we’ve expanded our operation we can begin to implement these new elements in the boxes.”