Clean Cut Meals is the first meal prep company based in the west of Ireland and was founded in 2015 by Conor McCallion and Michael Dyer. Clean Cut Meals offers different meal plans to cater to everyone’s needs. The Galway-based company offer menus tailored to fat loss, lean muscle building, and even students. They deliver directly to your door, eliminating the need to sweat it out in the kitchen.
Conor is now the Managing Director of the company and Michael is the Executive Chef. Conor and Michael studied in the Galway Mayo Institute of Technology, earning business degrees in Hotel and Catering Management and in Culinary Arts Management respectively. Both of these Galway men also hold diplomas in diet and nutrition. SIN caught up with Conor to see how Clean Cut Meals is the cutting-edge choice when it comes to fresh and healthy meal prep.
Conor explained how he and Michael first got the idea for a meal prep company when they were on a J1 in San Francisco.
“Firstly, we were both pretty into the gym, and we would work in construction Monday-Friday and hit the gym in between,” he said.
“We saw that people were bringing their meals in, fully-prepared in Tupperware, and we thought there’s nothing really like that back home,” added Conor. They saw a gap in the market and ran with it, and now Clean Cut Meals has been going strong for two years.
Conor believes that healthy eating is becoming more and more popular with each passing year.
“I think people are starting to realise that being healthy, and eating healthy, is a lifestyle choice,” he said.
“It is not even just adults, lots of students want to eat healthy, even primary school kids are becoming more conscious of it… it really is a huge market.”
Clean Cut Meals offer a student meal plan which provides two meals a day. Dishes on the menu include turkey curry with brown rice, sweet chilli chicken with noodles and even burrito bowls. A week’s worth of ready-to-go food costs €64.95 and a month’s worth costs €239.95. All food is freshly prepared, vacuum-packed and delivered to your door in a refrigerated box. Customers can also gain loyalty points to get a reduction on their future orders.
Conor says he thinks it is particularly difficult for students to eat healthy, especially when they’re on a budget.
“There are simple things you can make, like chicken, broccoli, brown rice… good nutrition is important, especially close to exams.”
Now that January has faded away into February, many people start to give up on their New Year’s Resolutions, and they decide to ditch the healthy eating. Conor says having a meal plan in place can help people to stay motivated and on track.
“If you have meal prep done, the food will be waiting for you in the fridge. You can also make your own fake-aways at home,” Conor advised.
“Our meal plans change every four weeks so you won’t get bored of eating the same food,” he promised.
Clean Cut Meals also offer add-ons such as protein balls, which are mainly mixed nuts flavoured with vanilla essence, honey and coconut. They also have a range of healthy juices and soups.
All of Clean Cut Meals’ suppliers are Irish. Conor and Michael used to go down to the local markets in Galway but the business became too big so they had to source their foods from bigger suppliers.
“We get our food from Total Produce and Pallas Foods,” Conor explained. This Galway meal prep company seems to be going from strength to strength, just like their customers, who include Galway football captain Damian Comer and MMA and boxing star Dee Fitzpatrick.
By Aine Kenny
Image from @cleancutmeals