Meet Sorted Sidekick!

Sorted Food began as a group of friends trying to improve our cooking. 12 years down the line, not a lot has changed… Unless you count the fact that there are now over 3 million friends forming one of the largest online food communities in the world, we’ve recently smashed through 800 million views on YouTube, and it’s become a full time ‘job’ for 25 of us in London…

Except for those LITTLE details, the essence of Sorted remains: friends trying to improve their knowledge of food and cooking.

Over the years, we’ve tried to do this a number of different ways, with cookbooks, videos, brewing our own beer (who knew about that one?!), and more recently the Sorted Club - essentially a concept to bring us together and create the tools to help us live better lives around food. In the early days of the Club this took the form of things like podcasts, Cookbooks and an ill-fated restaurant recommendation app that was sadly seen off by a worldwide pandemic… 

But the momentum really picked up when we launched Meal Packs, an app that simplifies the process of planning and cooking midweek meals, helping us to cook better dinners whilst saving money and reducing our food waste. After lots of testing and refining, there are now tens of thousands of us signed up and using Meal Packs, and it’s turning into a real movement.

Now, obviously none of this has happened in a bubble. Whilst we’ve been busy in our own sphere, the world around us has changed, and it’s changed a lot. Forget 12 years ago when working in social media was pretty much unheard of - in just the last 2 years, the world has transformed in countless indescribable ways, for better and for worse. 

However, one thing that has remained constant throughout all this time is the issue that so many people can relate to - cooking in the evening is a pain in the arse.

Over the years, countless products, companies and even industries have been created to try and solve this problem - from ready meals and takeaways, to food deliveries and meal boxes… 

On the face of it, these solutions appear to work. But look a little closer and you notice that these options are usually expensive, unhealthy, and not great for our planet. For instance, research and feedback from meal box users shows that once the big ‘sign up’ discounts have worn off, they are left with high costs, masses of unnecessary packaging and the added hassle of still having to complete a weekly food shop.

At best, these ‘solutions’ 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 in the world - the sharp rise in the cost of living, the ever-growing amount of food and packaging waste, and the disconnect and erosion of trust in our food systems.

Our opportunity

The truth is, cooking in the evening can be a pain in the arse if you don’t have the time, the skills or the knowledge.

For far too long we’ve looked to the food and tech industries to provide solutions, but with the growing realisation that their motivation is to sell us more food at higher prices, we don’t need another paracetamol. We need to go to the source of the problem and fix things from the ground up.

So, how do we stop cooking being a pain in the arse? By helping people find a better way to plan, shop and cook… and fighting to help everyone become an awesome home cook, so together we can beat the system.

And honestly, with a friendship and movement of more than 3 million people around the world who are all passionate about the same thing, who is better placed to rise to the challenge?

Meet Sidekick

By taking on this mission, we need to focus our efforts and double down on the tool that is already helping tens of thousands of people, and has the potential to impact millions, giving all of us the power to become awesome home cooks.

Part of this is making sure that our messaging and mission is as clear as possible - and that requires some changes.

So, please meet Sidekick.

Previously known as Meal Packs, the Sidekick app is stuffed full of Smarter Recipe Packs that each contain 3x recipes, 1x shopping list and 0x food waste. 

By letting us do the planning, your shopping becomes instantly simpler - fitting into your existing weekly routine, you can shop how and where you like, buying only the ingredients you need and using them all up by the end of the week, reducing your food waste and saving you cash.

If you’re already a Meal Packs user, you don’t need to do anything! Your app will automatically update in the coming days, so look out for it on your device. And if you haven’t signed up before, why not start your free trial now and see what it’s all about?

Our food team has been busy developing tons of new Recipe Packs, so whether you’re looking for quick and simple meals, dinners to push your culinary boundaries, or ways to eat more seasonally and sustainably, there will be something for you.

And this is just the start - we know that there are countless opportunities to extend the role of Sidekick in your kitchen, helping solve all of our problems with planning, shopping and cooking through areas such as personalisation, education and much more.

Thank you so much for being part of this community with us - this exciting change really is just the beginning of what’s possible. We can’t wait to continue growing Sidekick together with you and help so many more people become a hero in the kitchen.