From Our Kitchen to Your Home: Behind the Scenes of London’s Best Baby Food Delivery Service
Step into London’s very first baby food delivery kitchen located in Battersea!
Located in Battersea, South London, a team of expert chefs arrive at the crack of dawn to accept the fresh produce deliveries. On the face of it, it’s just like any other restaurant kitchen opening up its doors for the morning prep session, but there’s something slightly different about this one…
All the food is made specifically for babies and toddlers!
It’s the first of its kind to be set up in the capital, based on the popular baby kitchen model found in Bulgaria which has been around for decades.
In this blog, we’re going to take a look around the facility, explain how it works and why it could unlock a new generation of healthy eaters in the UK!
How London’s first baby food kitchen works:
V&Me’s baby kitchen works very much like any commercial or restaurant kitchen. 4 full-time chefs are working around the clock preparing fresh meals from scratch using the finest local produce.
However, there are some big differences…
Firstly, as you probably already know, there are some limitations to what babies and toddlers can eat in their diet. One of the most widely known is the fact that they can’t eat any added salt!
This is because their kidneys are not fully developed and they already get enough salt naturally from the food they eat.
This must mean the food is super bland right? Well if you’re used to having well-seasoned food with added salt, then yes, the baby meals will taste a bit plainer than you are probably used to.
But over the last two years, the team of expert Chefs led by Head Chef Kwesi have perfected the art of making fresh, homemade food tasty without the need for any added salt, sugar or preservatives.
London delivery company: Making baby meals actually taste good
There are lots of tips and tricks our chefs use to ensure that all our baby meals are loved by even the fussiest of eaters, while also ensuring that there is no need for any added salt, sugar or preservatives.
They could have gone down the easy route and added in lots of blended fruit puree to appeal to the natural taste for sweetness that babies are innately born with, but we wanted our meals to inspire a lasting love for healthy food like green veggies!
Some of the tips you could do yourself at home! For example, by only using the freshest ingredients that are in season you can greatly improve the taste of your baby’s meals without the need for flavour enhancers.
But some of the lengths the chefs go to would be a little bit extreme for most parents of babies to accomplish in their kitchen.
A good example is the homemade chicken stock which is found in many of our baby meals. This “liquid gold” is simmered down for over 12 hours to give it a rich, flavourful taste without the need for any salt.
There is also Chef Kwesi’s secret herb oil which is made by infusing a selection of fresh herbs into a high-quality olive oil over the course of the week. It’s perfect for sprinkling on roasted veggies as it imparts a delicious fresh taste to everything it touches!
What kind of baby meals do they make?
When you see what’s on the menu, you might be surprised to see that a lot of the meals are things that you’d probably want to eat yourself!
Meals like Indian dahls, Jollof rice and Vegetarian Chow Mein are purposefully included on a regular basis for good reason. By exposing your baby to a wide range of different cuisines, flavours and tastes, you are laying the foundation for a healthy future relationship with food and ensuring your baby grows up to be an adventurous eater, not a beige baby food fan.
There is, of course, a good selection of tried and tested favourites like Mac and cheese, Beef Lasagne and Shepherd’s pie which tend to get demolished every time they are on the menu. This means parents can have the peace of mind knowing there’s always one “safe” dish, and one “adventurous” dish designed to expand their palate.
How do they ensure it’s sterile and hygienic for babies?
Working in any commercial kitchen means having to adhere to very strict hygiene controls, but when you’re producing baby food, there are some extra steps you have to take to ensure that everything is clean and sterile at all times:
Sterilised Equipment: The kitchen operates under strict protocols. All equipment is thoroughly sterilised with Milton steriliser between cooking sessions to help maintain a clean and bacteria-free environment.
Hygiene Practices: The chefs wear hair nets and gloves, and every member of staff has undergone rigorous hygiene training to meet and exceed industry standards.
Fresh Ingredients: Using the freshest ingredients is key. All vegetables are thoroughly washed and sourced from trusted suppliers to guarantee optimum quality and safety of ingredients. Meat and fish produce is always used fresh, and never frozen.
Stringent Testing: To maintain consistency and safety, we flash freeze samples of our food regularly to be sent for comprehensive testing. This meticulous approach ensures that every meal meets our high-quality standards before reaching your little one.
Where in London does it deliver its baby meals to?
Battersea was chosen as the kitchen’s location for its central positioning within the capital, meaning the baby meals can be delivered to the whole of London every morning.
We are now delivering to almost all central London postcodes, including popular areas like Nunhead, Peckham, Camberwell, Westminster, Tooting, Oval, Wapping, Greenwich, Nappy Valley, Hammersmith, Fulham, Parsons Green, Kings Road, Paddington and Kings Cross.
To see if you’re in the delivery area, take a look at the delivery area page here. New postcodes are being added all the time, so make sure you’re subscribed to the newsletter to be the first to know about new areas!
If you’re a parent of a young baby living in London and you want to join the growing number of mums and dads getting fresh baby food deliveries to their doorstep, click the link below and get your first delivery now!
