Little Dish – Fresh kids’ meals

In January last year, Little Dish relaunched their award-winning product range using cutting-edge technology to improve the quality and nutrition of their recipes. The updated meals are now packed with up to 6 different vegetables in each recipe and are always made from 100% natural ingredients, are low in salt and contain no added sugar.

The 2023 relaunch has pushed the nutritional standards of the children’s meals category even further with the use of an innovative patented, microwave-assisted technology to pasteurise the meals post-pack. Given the quicker cooking time enabled by this technology, Little Dish meals retain texture and nutrient value better than the other children’s meals on the market.

Additionally, the new cooking process means the meals no longer need to be packed in a plastic tray and a result, Little Dish have proudly introduced the first pasteurised chilled meals packed into 85% wood-fibre trays to the UK market. These new trays carry less than half the carbon footprint of the equivalent plastic tray, making them more sustainable and environmentally friendly.

The improvement in product packaging, recipe quality, and meal appearance led to a sharp increase in rate of sale across nearly all retailers during a cost-of-living crisis. Following the release of the new launch, Little Dish unlocked a listing in Waitrose. Six months later, the brand was chosen to be Waitrose’s sole supplier of children’s prepared meals, launching in an additional 202 stores across the country.

Little Dish also extended its footprint into healthy meal kits, having launched as the first children’s food brand on the meal subscription service Gousto and shortly after, Hello Fresh. Both have been exciting opportunities to bring Little Dish to more families across the UK.

The extended distribution has not only driven commercial success for Little Dish, but it has also helped the company deliver on its mission to make a positive difference in children’s nutrition by bringing truly healthy, convenient meals to families across the country.

Award sponsored by KPMG