It was the opportunity to serve up healthier food to the local community in Perth that inspired Jack Parr to launch his own meal prep business, Macrotrition.
The 24-year-old health enthusiast who is passionate about exercise and nutrition wanted to change the public’s mindset on meal prep companies and show them how easy it can be to access healthy food options.
After working as a personal trainer at Perth’s Bannatyne Health Club in St Catherines Retail Park for four years, the young entrepreneur wanted to create his own food brand and started working on Macrotrition.
In February 2020 he made the decision to go self-employed as a personal trainer. However, as lockdown hit in the March, Jack was left with no ability to apply for grant funding to help him.
After adapting to offering personal training online and helping out one of his friend’s businesses, Jack decided to focus on his own business and started making and delivering meals from a friend’s kitchen.
By April 2021 he has launched the business with a focus on bringing nutritious meals to the masses.
Macrotrition proved a success and Jack was able to invest £5K into his first Perth venue and open the takeaway store in September 2021 on the High Street. He then invested £3.5K into his second store on Kelty’s Main Street which opened in July 2022.
What is on offer at Macrotrition?
Jack offers a range of set meals that are made on-site fresh to order and served hot for customers to take away.
He said: “Instead of buying a greasy takeaway they can buy Macrotrition meals and still have takeaway food but it’s not unhealthy.”
The company also offers these set meals to be purchased in bulk batches of five, 10, 15 or 20 meals.
Types of dishes include creamy Cajun pasta, red Thai curry and rice, gyros wraps, teriyaki steak and rice, salt and pepper chicken with rice, mixed bean tomato pasta and burritos.
Due to body types being all shapes, Jack offers different meals in a variety of sizes for those who are shredding and trying to get lean, and for those who are trying to bulk up.
Meal sizes include lean meals with 300-400 calories in them, gainer ones with 500-600 calories and an XL gainer dish had 700 calories plus in them. Prices range between £7.25 to £12.50 per dish.
For those with a sweet tooth there’s also homemade protein bars, overnight oats, smoothies, protein pancakes, juices and 3D energy drinks from America.
Sides such as halloumi sticks, Cajun chips and steamed broccoli can also be purchased at an additional cost.
Made fresh to order
The menu changes every four months. Jack and his team of seven – three chefs, three front of house and one kitchen porter – are often inspired by social media trends when creating the new menus.
With a new website launching next week, customers will be able to order their meals straight from the website and choose a suitable collection time from either the Perth or Kelty store.
All food is made on-site depending on the store chosen and is packaged and kept cold for customers to collect and keep in their fridge.
Although the team can serve up to 150 meals a day, Jack won’t restrict order timings like other companies.
“Everyone’s lives are changing all the time,” says Jack.
“You can order on Monday night and collect your food from your chosen store on Tuesday morning. We’ve already sold more than 40,000 meals since starting.”
Once the website is launched, customers will also have the option for delivery of their meals which will be a set day of the week, and will be accessible to those in the Dundee, Perth and Fife area.
Build your own
Customers who visit the stores can build their own meal by selecting their chosen protein, carb, veg and sauce. This option will also be made available online when the site launches.
Each order is then made and information about macros and calories is printed on to the container.
Jack said: “For people who are fussy or have allergies they can create their own meals to suit their choices and we also offer vegan and vegetarian options, too.”
Future plans
Jack recently bought a Ford Transit XL Wheel Base, and plans to invest £15K into creating a mobile meal prep food truck.
The truck will be able to attend festivals and events, as well as pop-up in locations like Dundee. It is due to be complete in the next month and will have a similar menu to the Perth and Kelty stores.
Customers will be able to create their own meal, with all food served hot.
Both the Perth and Kelty shops are currently open six days a week, Monday to Friday from noon to 8pm, and Saturday from10:30am to 4pm, with plans to be open seven days a week.
Conversation