Mindful Chef narrows losses as it withdraws from retail

Mindful Chef claims to be finally entering a “period of normalisation” having dramatically cut costs to align with falling sales. 

The meal kit provider, which is owned by Nestlé, was forced to radically trim costs last year “to align to the lower turnover levels”, according to its latest accounts, with £10m removed from its outgoings to bring total expenditure to £34.2m in 2023.

While sales fell 13% to £50.9m, these savings meant pre-tax losses were just £1.7m, an improvement on a £7.5m loss the year before. 

Both marketing and employee numbers were stripped back, with the number of people employed by the company falling from an average of 117 to 90, its accounts showed. 

It also removed itself from retail as it was proving “profit dilutive”, having sold a small number of ready meals in Waitrose since 2021.

“2023 was another year where turnover has been stabilising after the significant growth through the Covid-19 pandemic,” read the accounts. “The large customer cohorts acquired during 2020-21 have now churned and we are entering into a period of normalisation.”

Fortunately for Mindful Chef, its direct-to-consumer business saw a recovery throughout the year, with a new delivery charge of £4.99 and a boost to average order values helping boost gross margin to 32.9% from 25.1% the year before.

Giles Humphries, Mindful Chef co-founder, did not comment on last year’s results, but said the company’s performance in the first half of 2024 has been “incredibly encouraging, with sales up 10% year on year and our most profitable period to date”. 

“By staying focused on delivering an exceptional customer experience, we’re seeing the results speak for themselves, and I couldn’t be more proud of what we’ve achieved.”

This week, Mindful Chef announced it will partner with Gymkhana Fine Foods to offer customers Michelin star-inspired Indian dishes for a limited period in October. Gymkhana was launched by the two-Michelin-star Indian restaurant in London last year and sells a range of premium cooking sauces in Ocado, Whole Foods, and Selfridges.