A new London-based frozen vegan meal firm, PEP Kitchen has been launched by chef founders Joe Coulter and Ben MacAndrews.
The brand has launched with an initial range of seven meals, selected after a phase of early trialling at Venn Street Market in Clapham. PEP ready meals are available for delivery across the UK via a carbon neutral delivery service.
Created with the additional aim of building a sustainable food business that is good for people’s health and the environment, the founders have used their experience as restaurant chefs to ensure there is no compromise on a great tasting product. The chefs strive to stand up alongside non-vegan ready meals on the market when it comes to flavour and enjoyment.
Dished include: Gunpowder Roots & Dahl, Jerk Sweet Potato Curry, North African Harissa Hotpot, and Mung Bean Moussaka.
Central to the motivation around the brand is the duo's passion around food waste. With a woeful third of all food produced in the UK ending up in the bin, developing a frozen product was MacAndrew and Coulter's way to help battle this.
PEP meals can be heated from frozen in under 10 minutes, ready to eat when you are, meaning less food wasted at home. Freezing has also allowed the chefs to cook naturally without additives or preservatives associated in more commercial ready meal products.
Coulter said, “It’s all about bringing some fun and energy to everyday eating. We’ve used our combined experience in the kitchen to create meals that are not only super convenient and better for the environment but packed full of flavour”
MacAndrews commented, “Creating highly nutritious food is vitally important to us. We are determined to make it easy for people to make positive changes to their diet, both for themselves and for the environment.”
Coulter and MacAndrews graduated from Leith’s School of Food & Wine 1 year apart from each other before meeting as chefs at London restaurant Terroirs. MacAndrews continued his career in restaurants as sous chef at Quo Vadis while Coulter became head chef of The Great North Wood.
Their careers aligned a few years later in the London street food scene. MacAndrews co-founded Middle Eastern food truck Laffa - while Coulter worked in operations for street food market operator, Street Food Union, where he launched Soho Vegan Market in 2018.