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INTRODUCING GOURMADE

All you need to know about our fantastic friendly brand from our resident foodies

by Abi ▪ 17 Dec, 2020

WHO ARE Gourmade

Welcome to Gourmade! (That’s ‘Gourmet’ and ‘Homemade’ combined – see what we did there?)

No, we’re not a recipe kit company – the homemade bit is all done by us. We are a premium frozen ready meal brand and we’re passionate about food, family and fun. You may have some preconceived ideas about frozen ready meals and our bet is they aren’t good. That’s not surprising – historically they’ve been (how can we put this?) decidedly below par, and filled with nasties to boot. At Gourmade it’s very different. All our meals and desserts – from classic dishes to family favourites – are free from artificial colours, additives and preservatives. And because they are frozen from fresh within minutes of cooking, the vital nutrients are ‘locked in’. We are here to challenge – and change – the stereotypes. Frozen ready meals keep more goodness than fresh ones and need none of the preservatives. You can keep them for longer and be sure there’s always a satisfying, nutritious meal at hand for those days when you just can’t even. And, most importantly, at Gourmade we prove that frozen ready meals can be DELICIOUS. The ‘Gourmet’ bit isn’t an idle boast!

That’s the food part. Our motto is where the family and fun comes in. We want to help people to ‘Live More, Cook Less’. Life is busy for everyone and it can be easy to take your eye off the important things – or keep an anxious eye on them but drop a ball now and then anyway. If you’re spending hours prepping beautiful meals every day, you’re losing out on precious family or me-time. And our old friend guilt waves hello. Then again, if you don’t cook every day, are you giving your loved ones – and yourself – the comforting food rituals that everyone needs? Oh, look – there’s guilt again. It’s a quandary, and we’ve all faced it. But there is an easy answer. With Gourmade you can get balance back.

It’s not about replacing cooking – cooking is one of life’s joys, and you’ll find plenty of recipes and tips coming on this very blog. But you can take some time back for you, for family – for fun. With a Gourmade meal you are always in good hands – and in for a treat. We even deliver to your door, so you can skip the shops, too. Our boxes are fully insulated to keep everything frozen so you don’t even need to be be home at the time. All you need to do is choose your mains, sides and desserts online and pop them in the freezer when they arrive – it’s that simple. Our meals are all cooked straight from frozen, so even if your plans change at the last minute, we’ve got your back

How Gourmade began

The idea behind Gourmade was cooked up (excuse the pun) by our co-founder Jo, a self-professed ‘ready meal snob’, who spent hours every day cooking her family wholesome meals (which were much appreciated!). With her boys growing up and spending less and less time at the dinner table, Jo realised there must be a better way to achieve a balance between homecooked meals and spending precious time with her family.

So Jo began a routine of batch cooking her favourite meals at the weekends, so she could freeze them and choose something to pop in the oven on busy weeknights. This was so successful that not only was she keeping her family well fed, but her friends began putting in orders too! Jo loved the feeling of helping others to save time for the people and activities they cared about and decided to scale up the operation. Before she knew it, Gourmade was born – and it’s been winning over time-poor people ever since! Jo had genuinely never eaten a ready meal before creating her own, because she was so passionate about only using high quality, delicious home cooked food with no unwanted extras. To this day, all our recipes remain free of artificial colourings, flavourings and additives – just how you would cook them at home.

OUR MISSION

Our meals are now filling farm shop shelves and freezers across the country, and we couldn’t be prouder! It has always been our mission to help as many people to live more by cooking less. We know that there are many people out there who love cooking at home but don’t always have time (shout out to all the busy parents, shift workers doing crazy hours and anyone who just needs to claw back some me-time a couple of days a week!). We work hard to select the best ingredients and create the perfect recipes, so let us take the weight off your shoulders once or twice a week. Give yourself a gift with Gourmade – then you can put your feet up and wait for top quality, luxurious meals are on their way!

And finally … a word from co-founder Jo:

Life is too short to miss out on the good things, and for me that includes quality food! I love developing new recipes and I am always so excited to hear your thoughts on our ready meal range. My favourite at the moment is trying out new dessert ideas (as I am sure you can imagine) and I can’t wait to show you what we’ve been working on for the next product launch…. Keep your eyes peeled!

Check out the full range of Gourmade ready meals and feel free to get in touch with our lovely team at any time – we’re always happy to dole out advice, make recommendations (because we all love the food!) and answer your questions.