Chef goes mobile for any home
Expert comes to your kitchen in venture to cater for the busy
A YEAR after starting her home meal preparation business, Paula Morris’ success has brought her back to Cairns to open her first franchise.
The chef, who made Cairns her home for 10 years, left for Brisbane two years ago and after many requests and encouragement from friends, started Happy Home Chef.
The business provides a qualified chef who goes into clients’ homes and cooks anywhere from 25 to 150 meals to be frozen or refrigerated.
Ms Morris said there were plenty of people who wanted to eat healthy food or had special dietary requirements but led busy lives and could not prepare meals themselves.
“My clients have big families, they run businesses, and there is just no time to cook,” she said.
“A lot of them have been using ready-made meal services but just wanted a more personal service.
“A year ago I rented a kitchen and sold $10 meals and that went really well but then it be- came too hard to tailor readymade meals for everyone so I decided to give more of a unique service.”
Ms Morris said sometimes the homeowner was present when she was cooking but mostly they headed out and returned home to a fully stocked fridge.
She has 50 clients from Brisbane to the Sunshine Coast and has already lined up 10 clients for the Cairns offshoot to be run by former Apex Burgers chef Ricci Whelan from Monday.
Mr Whelan said in his talks with Ms Morris he felt there was now plenty of opportunity in Cairns. Customers ranged from nurses and doctors to body builders and athletes, he said.
“I haven’t really done this sort of thing in my career but it’s easy as a chef to do these kinds of things,” he said.
The business is also registered with the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
Prices start at $250 for 25 meals and all food is fresh up to four days and freezable up to three months.
MY CLIENTS HAVE BIG FAMILIES, THEY RUN BUSINESSES, AND THERE IS JUST NO TIME TO COOK. A LOT OF THEM HAVE BEEN USING READY-MADE MEAL SERVICES BUT JUST WANTED TO A MORE PERSONAL SERVICE HAPPY HOME CHEF OWNER PAULA MORRIS