Healthy outlook for food business despite lockdown
A NEW business offering healthy meals and alternatives to the classic favourites has continued to grow through lockdown.
The Bear All Food Co was started by Simon Billings at the end of last year, seeing him give up his job in a prison so he could give it his full attention as it continued to grow.
It was a business he had wanted to start since he was 15 years old and had it all planned out. Now at the age of 23 he felt it was the right time to do it.
He said: “I was a chef growing up and worked as one for a long time and then I went to work as a prison officer while I did Bear All on the side. I was fed up working all the hours under the sun for other people.
“I put the time into my meals and knew it was a good idea, so I took the risk.
“I do healthy, balanced meals and portion control. They are a variety of meals – clean and healthy without seasoning to a menu that is a bit more jazzed up.
“I try to recreate people’s meals like fish and chips but make it healthy – that one is now under 500 calories – and we have a doner kebab for under 500 calories.”
The Etwall chef wanted to look outside of the gym market, which he says is saturated with companies making healthy meals for those in training, and find a way to make healthy eating fun and easy for everyone.
Although he does provide meals for gyms, he also makes them for people of all ages and walks of life. One of his customers is an 80-year-old vicar.
However, just as the business was growing, it was hit by the lockdown, so Mr Billings has been looking at new ways of developing Bear All Food Co and it now has a dedicated website for people to place their orders.
He said: “The lockdown hit me massively as every week I had been bringing in more sales and building it up and then lockdown started and it dropped by 80 per cent. It was quite a significant loss but it’s understandable as people were having their income cut.
“So I have taken the time with lockdown on building the business up and I now have a courier service. I’m improving things and had some time to myself so I can put everything back into the business.”
Before the lockdown, he had food stocked in fridges at gyms around the area and would sell around 300 to 400 meals just from that.
He aims to be a Midlands-based business, going as far as Leicester, Stoke, Birmingham, Chester and Sheffield, as well as Burton and South Derbyshire. The former de Ferrers Academy pupil said: “The food is for everyone. People can contact me for a free consultation so we can talk things through and work out what’s suitable for them as some people don’t know where to start.
“I would like to say to all the people who have helped me that I could not appreciate it more, a lot of people have done a lot of stuff. Especially Liam who has been helping with the meals and has done a lot of stuff for me, it’s nice to have someone else in the kitchen.
“And to all the people who have carried on buying food, it’s been a massive help and very much appreciated. I would like to thank all the people who have continued to support Bear All and a big thank you to those closest to me that have kept me going during the lockdown.”
More details about Simon’s meals is available at bearallfoodco.com.
I try to recreate people’s meals like fish and chips but make it healthy.
Simon Billings