Being a busy parent often means struggling to come up with quick and easy dinners that your children will like. This week, we spoke to new kid’s meal prep and delivery company The Kids’ Table to learn about how they can help make weeknight dinners easier for everyone.
What is your business called and what does it do?
We are The Kids’ Table – a kids’ meal preparation and delivery company in downtown Toronto. Busy parents go online to order 6, 9 or 12 meals at a time, plus snacks for home delivery. We are not a subscription service – parents use us as they need us. Our meals are created and crafted by Chef Shen Ousmand and the culinary team at McEwan Fine Foods exclusively for The Kids’ Table.
What made you want to do this work?
One of the partners, Ian Flemming, had the original idea of starting a kids’ lunch company because he had an interest in food and its preparation, and he could see that there was nothing out there that offered children really good, healthy lunches that they would actually want to eat.
He and his mother, Nicolette Flemming started throwing ideas around, and brought in another person, Joan Butler. Soon, all three of us were deep in research to figure out what was on offer in Toronto and where the gaps were. We ended up going beyond “lunches” to “meals” as we wanted to offer a solution for the one giant gap that was obviously there: there was no kids-specific meal preparation and delivery service in Toronto. Or Ontario or Canada, for that matter.
What problem does this solve?
More than anything, parental stress. Also, getting kids interested in eating healthy food.
We started forming The Kids’ Table before COVID hit, and we were already focusing on how we could relieve parent stress. Since COVID, we think more than ever, busy, stressed-out parents can use a break every now and then and order a week’s worth of meals for their kids.
Who are your clientele/demographics?
Busy, stressed out parents with children between the ages of 4 and 12. At the moment, living in central Toronto, but we will be broadening our scope.
How does your business make money? How does it work?
Just like any other food service company but again, we aren’t a subscription service. Parents can order meals from us on a weekly basis.
Where in Toronto can we find your profession?
The Kids’ Table is a unique service in Toronto. There are other companies that prepare kids’ food. But no-one else delivers individually-prepared, chef-crafted kids’ meals to customer’s homes.
What is the best question a prospective customer could ask a member of your profession when comparing services?
What makes you different, better, special?
The Kids’ Table is a unique service in Toronto.
There are other companies that prepare kids’ food, but no-one else delivers individually-prepared, chef-crafted kids’ meals direct to customer’s homes.
All our meals and snacks are created and prepared by McEwan Fine Foods – specifically crafted for ultimate “kid appeal”. Our meals are made from fresh, quality ingredients – nutritious and oh-so-delicious! Kids love them as well as the fun names: Gobble Gobble Meatballs, Spaghetti Cupcakes and Winner Winner Chicken Dinner are a few faves.
We pride ourselves on fast, efficient delivery on Sundays. And to top everything off, our customer service is top-notch, immediately responding to customer concerns with the attitude “Got an issue? Let’s make it right!”
What is the best part about what you do? What is the worst part?
The best part is being able to help parents out, especially during these difficult times. We’re parents ourselves and we know firsthand how hard the day-to-day grind can be and we don’t hesitate to welcome anything that can help relieve one of the many things on our to-do.
There honestly hasn’t been a worst part yet as so far it’s all been working toward our launch and now that we’re working toward expanding our services, we haven’t had time to dwell on anything negative.
What is your favourite joke about your own profession?
Q: How can you tell if someone is an entrepreneur?
A: Don’t worry, they’ll tell you.
What is another Toronto business that you love?
Park & Province men’s clothing store
