What defines your clients? What do they all have in common?
The clientele that I attract value their time highly. It is very common for me to do an initial interview with a client and hear them say "I don't have time to prepare healthy meals."
Many clients are astounded that I can make a meal that looks "normal" to them. It looks familiar and comforting but it's lean and full of healthy vegetables. I make all my stocks from organic meats. That's the root of my meals.
I portion out the meals and that takes the guessing out of it for my clients. They like that. They can eat and move on to their next activity. All dinners come with a soup or salad and seasonal veggies. I just make it easy for people. Right now, my eaters like my style and that makes my job easier. It's a good fit for both parties.
I include a nutritional tidbit with my meals and a picture of how to artfully place the food on the plate. Occasionally, I ask them to do an activity like stop and think about the food, where it came from on our earth, our connection to it. They appreciate that.
The nutritional value is almost secondary to their choice to have me cook for them.
What dietary theories or approaches are your clients interested in nowadays? I know you have experience with many dietary theories.
There is a lot of emphasis on low carbohydrates and gluten minimizing, and these are smart and easy to attain objectives. But the stronger nutritional element that feeds a body would be the use of organic clean grown or raised ingredients.
In my initial client interviews, I discuss weight loss if they want that, and what stressors they have in life.
Each week I prepare a special thing for my clients. Yesterday, I made a pear tart. They can, and should, indulge occasionally. That's healthy. For one of my clients who is losing weight, I make chocolate truffles out of almond flour, cocoa and coconut oil. A truffle satisfies her craving for sweet.
What are the most important reasons clients choose you over meal kits like Purple Carrot? It seems like your clients have more choices than ever.
The main difference between my meals and the larger meal services goes back to the time element. The work is removed. So a person can come home and in less then 10 minutes have the same quality or better meal.
Being given back the hour or two of preparation time for an evening meal is proving to be of great value. The mind set created by the idea of "I don't have time" is debilitating for some. Change that to "dinner is all ready" and the tension is removed. Add to that, the food being delicious and resembling comfort foods while being healthy and suddenly you're not only fed well, you're relaxed too.
Thank you!
My thanks to Maurine Sarjeant for her insight. If you liked this post, please click the share button to tell your friends. And if you have a question or comment, enter it just below.