HEALTHY TASTES A RECIPE FOR PROFIT AND JOBS

DEMAND for one of Australia’s leading home delivery meal services has boomed during the Covid pandemic, sparking a national recruitment drive.

An Australian pioneer in the competitive weight loss and healthy meal service sector, Lite n’ Easy is seeking more than 200 new permanent, part-time and casual staff around the country.

Lite n’ Easy chief executive Dennis Stark said about $80m had been invested in the business over the past 18 months.

“It’s been a busy couple of years for us,” he said.

“The opportunity for us with the growth in fresh meals, as well as our frozen food range, as well as the

opportunities in our Home Care Package offering, has allowed us to reinvest into the business across the country.

“Demand because of Covid is part of it, as has the changing demographics of ageing Australians who have been staying home longer and in turn are more reliant on service like ours making and delivering healthy food.”

Launched in Queensland in 1986 by Graham Mitchell who still owns the company, Lite n’ Easy, which operates under the Mitchell’s Quality Foods umbrella, employs more than 1600 people across Australia.

It more than doubled its profit in 2020 to $5.24m from $2.01m in 2019, according to financial statements lodged with ASIC. Revenue increased from $200m to $210m over the same period. It delivers more than one million fresh and frozen meals a week across Australia, with the Brisbane facility producing all of the frozen meals.

Mr Stark said Lite n’ Easy was focused on expanding its product range and capacity.

“We are ... aiming to create a healthier and happier Australia with the right food and right portions,” he said.