Children’s food business advice

[Chocolateyclaire76]

I’m looking for some constructive feedback before I dive head first into my business idea!

I am looking to launch a children’s takeaway business from my home, that will serve my village. I will serve 1 dish per evening and take orders by 9am that day so that I can buy fresh ingredients. My focus is world food and encouraging primary aged children to try different dishes, whilst still keeping them ‘familiar’. So my questions are -

Do you think there is a market for this?

How much would you pay for 1 meal?

Should I market it at families, rather than just children? If I do this though I have complication of when to deliver as parents may eat later.

Shall I really focus on children and them learning about the country they are eating food from?

Feedback from anyone with primary aged children really would be appreciated!

Thanks!

I know you posted this several weeks ago now, so I hope you haven't spent a lot of time & energy going in the wrong direction.

Firstly, let's start with your village. How large is it and how many children are there aged 11 and below? Which other outlets are there where people can buy ready meals & takeaways? A takeaway is typically seen as a treat, not a regular event. Those families valuing home cooking are likely to be doing it themselves already. Those who don't value home cooking are unlikely to buy 1 or 2 meals for their children, because they will have a freezer full of nuggets, pizza and fish fingers. Your prices would need to be comparable with what people already spend in your area.

Most supermarkets already offer children's ready meals from around the world which simply need a few minutes in the microwave. You haven't said that you would deliver, so I assume they would need to collect. This creates hassle as they need to time the collection, bundle their family out to get it etc. Families are also unlikely to want to have their meals at the same time, so you would need to fit in around after school clubs, working times etc.

I assume you have your own family. How would this affect your own afternoon & evening routine? You would need to be able to comply with food hygiene regs (do you have pets?), have PI insurance and ensure that your product range was at very low risk of causing food poisoning if reheated etc. How will you cope if you only receive one or two orders a couple of times each week? You may only be making 30-50 pence profit per meal after taking overheads into account.

Finally, look at what Cook offer in terms of it's frozen ready meal range. They typically charge £2.75 for a kid's meal. Is there an outlet local to you? Our local service station has a freezer full of their ready meals and they do really well.

I wouldn’t buy a separate meal for DC’s. only one meal is prepared and it’s for the whole family.