FFF Podcast Episode 16: Tastily’s Secret Sauce

Ever wondered what inspires entrepreneurs to get started?

If you have then tune into Episode 16 of FFF’s podcast series with Tastily founder Will McDowell who talks through what drove him to found the UK-based pre-made meal subscription service.

Will describes how it all started when he moved to New York for work: “I’ve always loved food. I’ve always eaten a lot of food and had struggles with my weight due to food and that was highlighted when I went to New York…In my first year in New York, I put on a lot of weight.  I got really unhealthy…I wanted to make a change and discovered a company in the US called Freshly…I started using the service and lost about 30 kilos in nine months.”

When Will returned back to the UK, he realised there wasn’t a Freshly-equivalent pre-made meal service in the country that offered convenient food which was not just tasty but healthy too.  What to do? Go back to old unhealthy eating habits and put on the pounds or set up his own UK version of Freshly?  And so, Tastily was born. “I wouldn’t have set up Tastily if it wasn’t for health.  I often say that I am an obese person in a semi-healthy body at the moment because of Tastily.”

Today, customers can choose between 28 dishes that are healthy, portion-controlled, convenient and of course are tasty.  In the interview, Will goes on to talk through the challenges Tastily and the wider food industry are facing today, such as the cost-of-living crisis and funding, as well as his plans to scale up the business.  He also reveals Tastily’s secret sauce…

No mention of whizzy technology or game-changing customer acquisition strategies. Instead, according to Will, Tastily’s magic ingredient is “…surrounding yourself with people who know what they are actually talking about”, oh and being able to “raise money”.