Launching the app, SORTEDfood co-founder Jamie Spafford said it was developed in response to the perfect storm of rising food prices, the unaffordability of convenient options and growing demand for healthier and more sustainable consumption.
“We’ve been hearing from our community how much of a pain cooking dinner in the evening can be without proper planning, shopping and the right know-how. Over the years, countless products, companies and even industries have been created to try and solve this problem – ready meals, takeaways, meal boxes etc. These solutions appear to work, but when you look a little closer they are usually expensive, unhealthy and not great for our planet,” he reflected. “They are like a paracetamol to a headache – solving the symptoms rather than the root cause of the problem. At worst, they are actually contributing to a growing number of issues – the rise in the cost of living, the ever-growing food and packaging waste, and the disconnect with our food systems.”
The Sidekick App aims to help consumers looking for ‘mindful mealtime inspiration on a budget’. The team of chefs at SORTEDfood have designed recipes inspired by the latest food trends and world cuisine, that are ‘packed full of money-saving hacks’ and aim to help take the strain out of everyday meal planning.
Affordable, convenient ways to cut waste
Each recipe on the App will deliver a tasty meal for less than £4 per portion and take under 30 minutes to make.
Every week the subscription-based Sidekick App will publish a choice of ‘Recipe Packs’ containing three recipes. The meal plan is specifically designed to leave users with no food waste at the end of the week by sharing fresh ingredients across each dish mixed with budget store cupboard ingredients found in most kitchen cupboards.
The social media influencers said this allows users to ‘get the most out of every ingredient they buy’, helping them to save on their food bills and ensure none of the food they buy goes to waste.
Once users have chosen their Recipe Pack for the week ahead the App creates a shopping list of ingredients that people can purchase from wherever suits their lifestyle. On average, subscribers who pay £4.99 per month can expect to save over 20% on their food shop in the first month of using Sidekick, increasing to over 30% in subsequent months as their store cupboard grows, the company claimed.
Tapping a 2.5m-strong community
In order to develop unique recipes, the SORTEDfood chefs combined their culinary expertise with feedback from the YouTube channel’s 2.5 million-strong community. This allowed them to create a range of recipes that offer ‘twists’ on classic dishes and seasonal favourites. Users will be able to choose from classic comfort dishes as well as new inspiration from cuisines around the world and ingredients that change with the seasons so home cooks ‘need never get stuck in a mealtime rut’.
“Our mission is to help people along the journey to becoming awesome home cooks, whilst having fun along the way. We know finding food inspiration, managing tight budgets and reducing food waste are all really important to people now more than ever, and we hope using Sidekick will take some of the stress out and allow people to enjoy tasty, healthy food whatever their budget,” Spafford said.
Sorted Food was started by four school friends in 2010; it has grown to be one of the world’s largest online food communities with 2.5 million YouTube subscribers. The YouTube channel has had over 800 million views, with two to three new videos uploaded each week.
