Brisbane, 2014: A local couple sit contemplating another Sunday lost to the bane of all health seekers – weekly food prep. A deceptively long process – travelling between markets, butchers, the seafood guy and your local health food grocer, followed by hours spent in the kitchen trying to come up with new ways to make large batches of food that don’t all taste the same.
‘Bugger it’ they thought, ‘we want our Sundays back!,’ and began to search for a food delivery service that didn’t supply meals full of processed carbohydrates, added sugars and preservatives, and with ingredients we’ve never even heard of let alone know how to pronounce! To their surprise, and for possibly the first time ever, Google failed them. Nowhere in Brisbane could a time poor professional, a primal weekend warrior, nor a gluten/lactose/grain free subscriber order fresh meals to be delivered each week. And thus, Caveman Kitchen was born.
And now that Abbey, half of this super couple and one of the co-founders of Caveman Kitchen, has so much more free time on her hands, she was able to take a moment to chat to us about eating clean, what she’s doing with all that time she has to spare and how she treats herself. You know, because you’re allowed to have a cheat day occasionally.
Describe what it is you do so well in a sentence, and don’t be modest.
Caveman Kitchen gives you back your health and your time, so you can spend your life doing time important things – like dancing round the kitchen in your underwear!
What does a typical week at work involve for you, besides “Full on!”
Full on wouldn’t even begin to describe it! We have a huge focus on making sure that what we’re providing is what the community wants – taste, value for money, awesome ingredients, ease of use and delivery – everything! We also want to get to know our Tribe as best we can, so we spend as much time as possible on the phone to our customers – the more we know about their pain points, the more we can fix them!
We’re also currently busy beavers working on an awesome community project – details to come soon!
What do you love most about your job?
I absolutely love when we get feedback from our customers telling us we’ve made a difference in their lives – everything from ‘I didn’t know food could taste that good’ to ‘I’ve never felt healthier – the fog has lifted’ and a recent one that said ‘I’ve gone from eating McDonald grade food to superstar food!’
Those are the things that really make my heart soar – knowing that our vision has become a reality.
Which, of all the amazing eats Caveman Kitchen has to offer, is your favourite?
This the hardest question EVER! It changes from week to week depending on what’s on the menu. Meatza has been a looooong time favourite, the pork fajita bowl was also my invention and one I order a lot. The new beef stroganoff literally melts in your mouth so that’s hard to go past. I can’t choose!
Are there any local producers or creators who are inspiring you at the moment?
We are really loving the whole healthy movement in Brisbane at the moment – from cafes like Miss Bliss in West End (you will often find me working or having meetings there), to our meat supplier Andy’s Gourmet Meats where everything is grass fed, free range and Australian sourced. And the huge range of snack suppliers that are popping up – Caboolture Real Food Company, Paleo Hero, The Naked Co., At One Foods – all companies that make really delicious, really healthy snack foods.
In three words, why should we get more Caveman Kitchen into us?
Less cooking, more living! (I just couldn’t make it in three).
Do you have any exciting plans for the future we can start drooling over?
There are soooooo many things coming up! A heap of new meals in the works that will roll out over the coming months, an awesome community project that will be doing some great work for people right here in Brisbane and VIP Tribe tasting nights. Keep your eye out for our new video blog, ‘Abbey Tries New Things,’ that will showcase all of the awesome things you can do when you have loads of health and loads of time – and also give you more than a few laughs at my expense!
If we took a look in your fridge, what would we find?
The fridge is always full of Caveman food! Including all of the delicious leftovers each week! Apart from that you will always find a tub of natural Greek yoghurt, eggs and bacon (breakfast staple), and a block of 85% Lindt Chocolate. Occasionally you will also find my wallet and keys when I’m having a seniors moment.
If you were a superfood, what would you be?
Hmmm, I’ve never been asked this question before! Coconut would be the obvious one, as it can do everything, but I think I’m going to go with acai. I have a bit of a sweet tooth so I love the slight sweetness and freshness of a good acai bowl.
Where/what was the last great meal you ate in Brisbane?
West End’s best kept secret: El Torito! Good, honest Mexican food with awesome staff and terribly uncomfortable chairs. You’re not living life without good Mexican food!
You can get your mitts on Caveman Kitchen via their online order form, and even get it delivered to your door! Now that’s time saving.
