Myles Hopper and Giles Humphries are the co-founders of Mindful Chef a health-focused food box company based in the UK. They launched in 2015 and have since shipped over 500,000 healthy recipes from small farms in Devon where they grew up. The recipes are 100% gluten and dairy free. Mindful farming is important to them and their suppliers maintain the highest of ethical standards. Mindful Chef is one of the most popular food delivery services in the UK.
We talk about all kinds of interesting topics like how they got started, cooking, knife skills, and about some fantastic pre and post workout recipes. We also talk about the Mindful Chef Book and how important it is to use quality ingredients. Myles and Giles are also athletes who love sports. They decided to pool their talents and started Mindful Chef in 2015. They have been friends since they were young, and they share all kinds of insights into healthy eating and entrepreneurship.
Today’s topics include:
- Myles shares his background in sports and surfing and rugby. He also became a personal trainer and a nutrition coach.
- Giles worked in brand marketing before discussing Mindful Chef with Myles.
- How they pooled their ideas together with Rob the finance guy and launched in 2015.
- They had seen recipe boxes in the US, but not any healthy ones.
- How their interest in healthy eating and pressure of time demands helped them understand that the Mindful Chef was a great idea.
- With the boxes delivered, people just have to spend a half hour in their kitchen. Plus, they learn the skill of cooking.
- How the average person eats three takeaway meals a week.
- How health and wellness are important and food preparation needs to be prioritized.
- They are also going to do some collaboration and share cooking skills with the public.
- Mindfulness is about having a bit of balance. They eat Mindful Chef, but also go out because it is about balance.
- The credit debit system people have with their eating and indulgence habits.
- The mindful aspect of switching off just a bit. How the Internet period needs a mindfulness shift.
- People used to have time away from work to spend with friends and family.
- Put your phone down and open up one of our bags of goodness and enjoy being in the moment and cooking a meal.
- They are still refining our family and kid friendly boxes.
- How in some small way they are helping a new generation learn to cook again.
- How important is was to find the Mindful Chef name and some names that would not have worked well.
- The logistics and technology and ordering fresh food were all challenges that they have faced.
- How they gravitated towards sourcing from small farms. They will even go and see the farm and make sure that it is a good fit.
- How chef Louisa comes up with amazing recipes and as a result the guys cooking and knife skills have improved immensely.
- Some of the guys heros and people they look up to like Joe Wicks.
- The importance of educating people and getting fresh food back into the diet.
- How the book is more than a cookbook because it talks about many topics like sleep, gut health, stress, and animal care and treatment. They offer advice from a holistic point of view including energy and productivity.
- How delicious healthy meals can be when put together properly.
- How eating poorly disturbs your sleep.
- They just closed a 2 million pound funding round which will allow them to reach more people across the UK.
- They want to grow and diversify and give customers a wider offering than they have presently.
- How they are getting customer requests to add things to the boxes.
- Top pre workout meal is a protein shake or some greens and a banana.
- Post workout meal have a good balance of proteins, carbs, and fats.
Links and resources:
- Mindful Chef
- Mindful Chef Facebook
- Mindful Chef Instagram
- @MindfulChefUK on Twitter
- Mindful Chef: The No 1 Healthy Eating Book of 2017
- Mindful Chef YouTube
- Myles Hopper LinkedIn
- @myleshopperMHT on Twitter
- Giles Humphries LinkedIn
- Jamie Oliver
- Joe Wicks
- Rick Stein
- Michael Caines
- Precision Nutrition
- Giles on Instagram
Quotes:
“The idea of Mindful Chef was born when talking about delivering fresh fish to people’s tables. We wanted to be slightly different.” Myles Hopper and Giles Humphries
“We followed our passion for health and wellness.” Myles Hopper and Giles Humphries
“Even with the best food plans, at the end of the day, a conscious effort has to be made to put the meals together.” Myles Hopper and Giles Humphries
