Wiltshire Farm Foods

[CDAlady]

Several people have recommended this to me for my elderly/dementia father. I can see the advantages as they are complete meals. However, I'm not sure whether to get them because:

1. They are quite expensive in comparison to supermarket ready meals even if you take the'free' delivery into consideration
   

1. I can't be there when they deliver and they only specify a delivery day rather than time so I can't ask carers to be there either. I don't want my dad answering the door to people he doesn't know and he wouldn't be able to put the meals away in the freezer. Someone told me the delivery drivers can let themselves in and put the food in the freezer for you. But is this safe? It sounds a bit strange to me. I don't know them and my dad is vulnerable.
   

Another question? I have been getting Tesco ready meals until now and putting them in the freezer myself do the carers can microwave them but didn't notice that many of them are oven cook only which takes too long for the carer visit and/or need lengthy defrosting. Is there another supermarket that dies a good range of microwave ready meals? This seems the ideal solution as the can be ordered together with the other things I get for my dad every fortnight eg. Toilet rolls, soup etc and I can put them all away at the same time.

[Toddlerteaplease]

M&S ready meals are fantastic. Loads of choice and many of them 3 for £10. So cheaper than other supermarkets.

[FanSpamTastic]

My gran had Wiltshire farm foods and they were great. She had a key lock system for the carers - i.e. A box outside with a security code - carers could open the box and use key to open the door then put the key back and secure the box. The Wiltshire farm foods guy did the same. They sent the same man every week and he arrived around the same time each week (might have been fortnight). He would unpack all the food and put it away for her.

It was a very reliable service and enabled Gran to stay at home when she would otherwise have had to go into a home. Nothing wrong with her mental health but she was very frail and had suffered a hip fracture. She wanted to be at home rather than in a nursing home and was very happy with the service.

[Mightybanhammer]

Ever tasted one though? They are rank, short on protein and expensive.

[Nongoddess]

We had them for my DF and I actually thought they were pretty good. Some were a bit rank as per Mightybanhammer but most were OK and actually my dad really seemed to like them and there was a bit of variety. It was the ease of delivery which I really liked, the drivers knew the situation and were able to let themselves in with a keypad, they were skilled at this sort of thing. We lived a long way off and it was pretty easy for carers too. If you're already getting supermarket deliveries though then it might not be worth it.

[AntiqueOlive]

They were recommended to my dad and he liked the brochure so ordered some things. He didn't enjoy what he ordered so tried some others, and didn't like them either. This went on for a few weeks, because he was keen to make it work for himself as it seemed like a good option ( it was new and shiny and exciting at first). But the reality was he hated the food.

He also didn't like them phoning every week asking him to put an order in, he felt it was too much pressure - he'd phone them if he wanted stuff, he felt.

Eventually after a month or so he cancelled completely and we are back to supermarket ready meals. I try and do a mix of frozen and chilled and also lots of cold snack things - like mini sausages and sausage rolls, pork pies, prepared salad bowls and also supermarket sandwiches - he likes the variety of choice and it means he can have something quickly without heating up the oven if he's not in the mood.

[thesandwich]

M and s ready meals are great.dm found Wiltshire farm foods very bland.

[Mightybanhammer]

My mother likes the cook ones as a treat. Yes they are more expensive, but her appetite is tiny, so one meal lasts twice.

[JaneEyre70]

I used to work as a home carer and lots of people used these. I only tried a pudding but that was really nice. If you have a key safe, the delivery driver will let themselves in and pop in the freezer, it works really well for most.

[LoafEater]

They are the same company/kitchens as Apeto - the meals on wheels company most councils use. I tried them firmly dad and he found them mushy and bland.

M&S are the way to go. They do smaller appetite ready meals now too I think?

[Figureof80]

I sampled a few of these and wasn't impressed with the dinners, generally mushy beige lacking in texture and taste was my impression. Some of the puds were good as a nursery comfort food sort of thing.

Cook frozen meals are excellent.
www.cookfood.net

But they come by courier so wouldn't be any use for unpacking and also have limited delivery in rural areas. I was getting them delivered to me and taking them up at the weekend but they stopped delivery in our area. Very disappointed as they were delicious.

[Mightybanhammer]

Cook meals are stocked at Booths if you are in the North, and farm shops.
Mushy and beige describes the mealsI have seen from Wiltshire I am afraid!
Of the rest, yes m and s are the best I have found.
Co op premier range or whatever they call it can be good too, but portions are huge.

[Tiddlywinks63]

My elderly frail parents tried them and found them bland, tiny portions and expensive. They frequently had to cook extra veg to make a reasonable size meal. They're also expensive.
M&S infinitely tastier and cheaper, no need for extra veg.

[AntiqueOlive]

They are the same company/kitchens as Apeto - the meals on wheels company most councils use. LoafEater

That's interesting information actually.

[maggienolia]

They're not that great TBH. Very salty, very small meat/fish portion and very manufactured looking potatoes.
The corned beef hash looks like something that I put in the cat bowl.
You could try Oakhouse, marginally better.

[Homebod123]

My dad had similar experience with Wiltshire and just couldn't adjust to them. Like others he found them particularly bland even slimy! He and mum used to love cooking together so it was getting him down a bit. He loved Cook and that worked well for him when he was more mobile but he needs more help now putting things away and he's found a small company called Ofishial Foods now and seems to be much happier with his meals now.

[Mark1969]

Another company is Oakhouse foods they offer a choice of 400 meals that can be ordered over the internet or phone & brochure we also find it useful that they offer essentials groceries over the phone. They don't use courier and are used to keypads putting in the fridge. Also rated well on trustpilot: uk.trustpilot.com/review/oakhousefoods.co.uk

[GreyhoundzRool]

www.parsleybox.com

Mum uses these. They don’t need to be kept in the fridge or freezer so I found it useful that the delivery company could leave the box in a greenhouse/shed for me or the carers to bring in when we get there.

Mum likes them

[WhatHaveIFound]

I've ordered brochures for Wiltshire Farm Foods and Oakhouse today and will take a look at Parsleybox now it's been recommended.

At the moment my parents are struggling on with cooking but my DF is in a wheelchair and DM has just broken her foot. I guess long term it'll all be down to whether they like the taste of the food.

[Tinkobell]

Cook! are nice but with many dishes you do need to add your own veg and carbs - so not complete as such which can add £££ and hassle. We like Cook! as a change but are very very frustrated by the vast amount of BLACK UNRECYCLABLE PLASTIC that they use and never change.