Northampton chef’s new restaurant standard DIY meal kit business proves popular in first week

A new DIY meal kit delivery business launched by a Northampton chef has proven popular within its first week.

Oaki Eats went live online last week for pre-orders for Mexican-themed Valentine’s Day kits to make a restaurant standard meal at home.

Owner, Joshua Oakenfull, was expecting just a few orders, but thanks to the power of social media, more than 20 orders have already been placed.

The chef, who has had a passion for food for as long as he can remember, is intending to create a themed Oaki Eats box every month to offer ‘something different’ to Northamptonshire residents, delivered straight to their front door.

Josh said: “When I was a little kid I would never watch cartoons as I would be watching cooking programmes.

“I have worked in the industry for ten years and I have had a passion for food for a long time.

“Oaki Eats came about because I wanted to showcase my food that I was making outside of work, but now the way we eat and consume food will have changed now forever.

“Not everyone is a confident chef and people are missing that dining experience as they stay at home.

“We have a lot of good takeaways in Northampton but I think a lot of people have exhausted them now, so it seemed like a good time to do this.

“The boxes are in between a takeaway and a Hello Fresh order. It’s not as easy as delivered to your door ready to eat, but it’s not as difficult as making a Hello Fresh meal.”

This month’s box includes Josh’s fish tacos, which he says he is known for, as well as the option to change the fish to chicken or chunky refried beans.

Customers will have to cook the meat or fish, heat up the tortillas and assemble the slaw, but everything else, including the hot sauce and mayonnaise comes ready and is homemade by Josh.

For the Valentine’s Day box, priced at £30, Josh originally opened the pre-order two weeks early to give the business time to take off, but he says it ‘exploded’ almost immediately and due to the popularity of the fish tacos, the business has had to stop taking orders for the time being.

The chef, who holds a level two food hygiene rating certificate, is hopeful that he will be able to open back up to receive a few more orders if he can find additional help with preparing the food, which is all done from Josh’s home in Cottesbrooke.

Josh added: “Get Fit Gabby, who is a Northampton-based Instagrammer, shared our post and it exploded more than I ever would have thought.

“I had to stop taking orders because I prepare it all myself and I would rather make sure I’m delivering a quality product and make sure it is interactive and fun for everyone.

“I want to mix it up every month and I also want to give people as much information as I can about the foods I use, which I try to source as much as I can locally.

“Everything is doom and gloom at the moment, so something positive and something a bit different for the people of Northamptonshire can only be a good thing.

“I’m confident in the product and I think people will love it.”

For next month’s DIY box, Josh is planning a Mediterranean and Turkish box and the following month will be a Easter-themed homemade pie meal.

To find out more about Oaki Eats and to keep up to date with the boxes, follow @OakiEats on Instagram.

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