YouTube cookery channel Sorted Food has launched an app which promises to save users “at least 30% on their food bills”.
The app – Sidekick – publishes a choice of ‘recipe packs’ each week, each containing recipes and a shopping list designed to leave no fresh produce unused at the end of the week. Each recipe on the app costs less than £4 per portion and takes under 30 minutes to make.
Sorted Food, the “social media movement” which has more than 2.5m YouTube subscribers, said on average app users will save more than 20% on their food shop in the first month of using Sidekick, increasing to more than 30% in subsequent months as their store cupboard grows.
Jamie Spafford, who co-founded Sorted Food with four school friends in 2010, told The Grocer he expected food inflation and the rising cost of living would see demand for the app soar.
“The overwhelming rise in the cost of living means everyone is feeling the squeeze – we’re currently seeing a big uplift from ex-meal box users who just can’t afford the high prices any longer, as well as normal supermarket users who are looking to shop smarter and help their cash go further by buying less and doing more with it,” he said.
Users must pay £4.99 a month to use the app, a cost Spafford said would be offset by the savings.
“Sidekick users are likely to reclaim the monthly £4.99 cost in just one week,” he told The Grocer. “There’s also the hidden costs that people don’t see – throwing away half a bag of salad or two-thirds of a pot of sour cream that’s been sat at the back of the fridge.
“Due to the rise in the cost of living, consumers are having to pay so much more for food that then gets wasted. Sidekick ensures you use up every fresh ingredient you buy, which again saves you money,” Spafford said.
Sorted Food expects the app to steal customers from recipe box brands and takeaway restaurants.
“These solutions appear to work, but when you look a little closer they are usually expensive, unhealthy and not great for our planet. They are like a paracetamol to a headache – solving the symptoms rather than the root cause of the problem,” Spafford said.
“At worst, they are actually contributing to a growing number of issues – the rise in the cost of living, the ever-growing food and packaging waste, and the disconnect with our food systems.”
Sorted Food will be promoting Sidekick to its millions of social media followers, who it says make up “one of the world’s largest online food communities”.
Its YouTube channel has had over 800 million views, with two to three new videos uploaded each week. Over the years it has collaborated with Tesco and Co-op on content.
The group launched an app, Meal Packs, in 2020 exclusively to its community. Sidekick, which will be widely available, will replace Meal Packs.
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