Carrie Temple and Jane Adams, who have created Brilliant Bite, make nutritious home-cooked meals every week so customers can continue their busy lives without having to worry about what to make for dinner.
In the midst of a pandemic, when many people are being left with no choice but to cook at home, two nutritionists from Fife have launched a takeaway service with a difference.
Carrie Temple and Jane Adams are on a mission to “educate the nation” starting with their new meal collection service Brilliant Bite which is aimed at people who are short on time, unwell or bored of cooking at home but still want to eat healthily.
With their menu changing each week, customers are able to see what’s being served up via the business’s Facebook page, place their order by the Saturday and collect their highly-nutritious meals at one of two collection points, in Kirkcaldy or Edinburgh’s Corstorphine, on the Monday.
Jane said they started out targeting gym-goers before changing their focus when they realised there was a gap in the market where people just wanted a home-cooked, healthy takeaway.
Jane said: “Initially I think we thought we might go down the route of supplying food for gyms – it’s people with a bit of extra money to spend who go to work, go to the gym then come home and want to be healthy but they’re too hungry, too tired and just want to eat.
“That was kind of where we thought the gap in the market was but we’re finding that there’s loads of other people like working mums who want to feed their family healthily but they’re shattered.
“It’s anyone that wants to home cook but doesn’t have the time. It’s even for people who do home cook but have had enough of it and would just like somebody else to make them a really nice healthy, home-cooked meal.”
The pair also recognised that many people don’t have healthy alternatives when it comes to eating something pre-cooked.
Carrie said: “Where I live in Kirkcaldy there are a number of takeaways but it’s your kebabs and chippie and there are a few Indian and Chinese takeaways – you’re limited but it’s just not that healthy. It’s nice at the time when you eat it but afterwards you feel really bad. It kind of goes against all of our principles and we’re aware that sometimes you’ve just got to have your takeaway and have the food cooked for you.
“One of the things with our meals is that they’re quite substantial portions and we’ve said to people they can separate them out if they have two smaller children, for example. Then you know you’re getting at least three of your seven portions of fruit and veg a day.
“As nutritional therapists we work very closely with an individual and work out a diet that’s very much what they need but underneath that there’s a real basis on what a basic healthy diet is – it’s your vegetables, quality protein, your complex carbohydrates and healthy fats. But there are so many people who avoid ‘carbs’ and ‘fats’ and things like that.
“Above and beyond that, it’s just time for people – they’re too busy but they want to eat healthy and some of them know what they should be eating. But life is just, nowadays, so challenging and one of the things that really always goes by the wayside is our diet. We might get a takeaway on the way home, or buy convenience food, but we know it’s not really healthy, we just have to make do.”
Jane continued: “For me, I’ve always cooked healthy for the kids, but by Friday I’m sick of cooking. I still wanted to eat healthily but the only options are a Dominoes, a Tesco takeaway or whatever, and it’s a load of rubbish.
“So when Carrie said what she wanted to do, I thought there was absolutely a market for it because I knew that was the kind of food that I would like. I would like to buy a healthy takeaway and food that I would’ve liked to cook myself but that I either couldn’t be bothered with or didn’t have time or didn’t know how or whatever. That’s the gap we’re trying to fill.”
Making every meal count
Knowing the importance of getting enough fruit and vegetables in your diet every day, Jane and Carrie ensure that their meals meet this but still taste delicious, with the aim of educating people that it’s not difficult to fuel yourself with the proper nutrients.
Carrie said: “We put in three to four portions of veg per meal and, though we know the government guidelines is five, in our world as nutritonists it should be seven plus. If you have our meals for your lunch and dinner then you’ve already got six for your day.
“That’s sort of our focus, and very much about feeding the nation – feed them what they should be eating.
“We also want people to realise that healthy doesn’t have to be boring or ‘untasty’ or plain. It doesn’t have to be things like broccoli and rice, or salad. It can be hearty, healthy, home-cooked meals, that we enjoy and our families enjoy. But we’re making them with a healthier spin on them. People can always add extra vegetables or make brown rice rather than white rice.
“What we say to clients is to make every meal count. It’s not just about filling a hole in your tummy, it’s about nourishing the body and that is the point we are trying to get across. If we use turkey mince instead of beef or quinoa instead of rice we want to talk about the health benefits around those choices.”
Jane also added: “I think we’re really excited about educating people. This is second nature to us. I’m quite often amazed when I meet clients and they don’t know what we would consider to be the basics. We very much want to educate – so on our Facebook page and when we get a website, it’s all going to be about education.
“We want to be different to other food prep companies – we’re not just filling your belly, we’re looking after your health both now and in the future. We also want it to look good and for you to really enjoy your food.”
What do customers get?
When a customer puts in an order for a Brilliant Bite meal, Carrie and Jane spend their Monday in the kitchen cooking it so that it’s fresh, but not before they have tried it out on their own families. Customers also receive an email detailing the ingredients and some important information, which Carrie sends out beforehand.
Carrie said: “We put in an ingredient list and there are storage and heating instructions. They also get that in an email when they order as well.
Jane added: “We test all the menus out on our families, take pictures of them and Carrie is really good at getting all that out… so customers can see what it is they’re actually going to get.
Launching
As Brilliant Bite only launched at the beginning of November, Carrie and Jane are still in the early stages of developing the business, with only a Facebook page and an online order form up and running for customers who wish to try some of the delicious meals.
Carrie said: “We don’t have a website at the minute as we’re only just up and running. We’ve just recently updated our payment system and we have our order form online.
“Since it’s just the two of us we’re picking four different meals each week so that we’re offering variety and working out what people enjoy. It also means we’re not having 10 different dishes to cook between us.
“Each week we post our menu on our Facebook page and it’s a case of customers ordering by Saturday, for collection on Monday.
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“We have two collection points – one based in Kirkcaldy and one in Edinburgh. Jane’s husband has also offered up his delivery driving skills for local customers just for us to see if collection is more of a hurdle for people.
“We’ve already had a few messages from people asking when we’re going to deliver and we’re well aware of that but there are some hurdles we have to go through first. We don’t have a website as yet and we will have to work out packaging because everything has to be kept at a certain temperature. So that’s something we are still trying to figure out.
Jane added: “We’re hiring a kitchen at the moment and that’s just for one day a week, so we’re limited as to how much we can actually put out.
“Our initial idea is to take it up to Christmas, get some feedback as to what people want and then do a proper big launch in the New Year.”
To order from Brilliant Bite, take a look at this week’s menu and place your order here.
