How Meals In Minutes tackles food waste with ready-to-cook meal kits

Food waste in Singapore accounts for approximately 11 per cent of the total waste generated. In neighbouring Malaysia, a staggering 8.3 million metric tonnes of food waste is generated annually. This is alarming and causing severe damage to the planet we live in.

Two Malaysian entrepreneurs are trying to address this problem with direct-to-consumer vacuum-packed, ready-to-cook meals for individual and business customers.

Launched in 2020 by Brandon Lim and Khiara Mia, Meals in Minutes aims to simplify cooking for individuals leading busy lives, offering them the opportunity to enjoy high-quality, clean, and nutritious meals without the associated hassle and requisite culinary skills.

“Our mission is to become a global household meal kit brand,” states Lim.

Meals In Minutes enables consumers to prepare a gourmet dining experience in 15 minutes or less, said Lim. Each meal is meticulously flash-frozen, ensuring optimal freshness while conveniently portioning and a long freezer shelf life to minimise potential food waste.

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The meals contain no genetically modified ingredients or artificial additives. “Furthermore, we hold HACCP, HALAL and ISO 22000 certifications, guaranteeing the highest standards of food safety and adherence to Islamic dietary guidelines and international-level food compliance,” he claimed.

To place the order, customers can visit its website and pick and choose from a variety of proteins and staples like brown rice or quinoa, or they can order a side to come with the meal. The meal kit is delivered directly to their doorstep.

“It only takes less than 15 minutes to prepare a gourmet meal using our meal kit. All they have to do is either ‘sous-vide’ or microwave our individually packed meals, or go ‘Chef Mode’ by removing it from the vacuum pack and pan-frying, putting it into the oven, steaming or adding other ingredients to the mix,” said Mia.

Tackling food wastage

All the meals are flash-frozen at their freshest point and are stored in a frozen state until ready to be consumed. This enables Meals In Minutes to achieve a shelf life of 18 months from production, reducing food wastage and maintaining its freshness.

Moreover, the meals are individually packed, meaning individuals can better control their portion sizes, resulting in less leftover food that would otherwise go to waste. “By serving our portioned meals, restaurants can more accurately estimate the food needed for each order, minimising excess production and subsequent waste. Furthermore, individually packed meals allow for better inventory management, as leftovers can be easily repurposed or donated, reducing food waste even further,” Lim elaborated.

Relying on a changing food habit

With more Singaporeans prioritising healthy food choices and F&B businesses adding healthy menu options, Meals In Minutes sees massive growth opportunities.

“While manpower shortages remain a challenge in Singapore for F&B businesses to scale and improve, consumers are demanding higher quality and consistency in the meals provided to them. This is also similarly witnessed by their neighbouring country, Malaysia,” said Mia.
“We will see an upward trend in our B2B consumers where more restaurants or cafe owners will approach us to supply them with our advanced meal kit that is healthy, quick and easy to prepare, addressing the challenging demands of the Singapore and Malaysian markets.”

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The firm plans to maximise the accessibility of Meals in Minutes in Malaysia and Singapore. This involves expanding into additional stores and establishing a more substantial presence in various regional food outlets. It will also reach out to the hospitality and healthcare industries. The company recently received US$1.5 million in funding from an undisclosed investor to work toward this mission.

In addition to Singapore and Malaysia, Meals In Minutes also targets the UK market for expansion. The UK is a more mature market for ready-to-cook food, with 29 per cent of consumers consuming ready-to-eat meals at least once per week. The meal kit market is worth approximately one billion pounds annually and is forecast to grow by 8 per cent yearly.

However, a recent study found that purchasing ready meals is more expensive and unhealthy than cooking from scratch due to the added ingredients or preservatives, which can deter consumers from purchasing such meals. “Hence, for the UK, providing high-quality, healthy and easy-to-prepare meal kits are the key factors startups looking to reap the opportunities in this market should consider,” she stated.

“Our strategic plan includes launching distributor markets and strategically positioning Meals In Minutes for broader availability and influence. The UK market serves as our initial entry point into the broader European market, marking the beginning of our journey to introduce the convenience and excellence of Meals in Minutes to an international audience,” Lim said.

Singapore has a thriving F&B sector. The city-state experienced a notable surge of 13.6 per cent in annual growth between 2022 and 2023. Despite the challenges, mainly driven by the lack of manpower and increased competitiveness, the F&B industry is expected to generate a CAGR of 4.56% between 2023-2028.

“These challenges can be overcome through Artificial Intelligence and logistics delivery. Self-ordering kiosks are becoming increasingly popular, and QR code mobile ordering is also gradually becoming the norm in restaurants, all of which are targeted to overcome manpower shortages,” noted Lim.

Addressing plastic waste problem

Meals In Minutes has collaborated with Geman firm CleanHub to address environmental concerns. “Through this collaboration, we take proactive measures to tackle the issue by collecting plastic waste for each product sold,” Mia revealed. “Our brand also champions a minimalist packaging approach to diminish unnecessary waste and mitigate environmental impact significantly.”

Having said that, all our packaging will be fully recyclable, and in the coming months, we will launch the UK market with these materials. “As we move into the future, we are constantly looking for new innovative & sustainable materials to incorporate into our business to widen our impact,” Mia concluded.

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