Ready-made meals are a popular alternative to preparing fresh meals among traders, restaurateurs and consumers alike. They are already portioned and often cost less than the time and effort you would put into cooking them yourself.While ready-made meals are quick, easy and convenient, it is equally important to consider their health benefits. In this blog, we inform you about the pros and cons of ready meals on health and give you tips on what to look out for when choosing ready meals.

Advantages of ready-made meals

Ready-made meals offer a host of other benefits besides being quick and easy to use.

  • Full-fledged nutrition

Quality, carefully prepared ready-to-eat meals excite the taste buds and contain all the nutrients essential for a healthy lifestyle, such as fibre, vitamins and minerals. Ready-to-eat meals today are no longer just made up of salt, fat and carbohydrates. You can choose from a wide range of varied and healthy meals.

  • Value for money

Ready-made meals often represent good value for money. You get value for money in several areas. This way, you buy a full meal that is already portioned, saving you time as a trader. Moreover, the ready-made meals on the market today are varied and healthy. Unhealthy, over-salted meals are simply no longer appreciated. In addition, as a retailer, you can buy ready-made meals in bulk, as they have a longer shelf life than fresh produce due to preparation. That saves in the wallet. For customers, a ready-made meal is also a cheap option. Besides, customers today are heartily inclined to pay just a bit more for luxury and comfort, and that includes ready-made meals.

  • Time is money

Putting a meal together yourself is a chore, especially with rising food and energy prices. It is cheaper to buy a full, already prepared meal than to do it yourself. For the price of a ready-made meal, you don’t go to work yourself or it is too crazy to employ extra staff. Besides, as a restaurant owner, you can serve far more customers by working with ready-made meals than preparing it yourself. A ready meal from Good Eats Italy, for example, is hot in just 90 seconds.

  • Less food waste
Because ready-made meals are already portioned, you have less food waste. In addition, the meals have a longer shelf life than fresh ingredients because the ingredients have already been prepared. As a result, less food will be wasted and therefore your food cost will also be a lot lower.

Points to consider when selecting ready meals

Ready-made meals are a tasty, easy and time-saving way to eat. On the other hand, there are also some health risks associated with already prepared meals.

  • Superfluous fats, sugars and salt

Ready-made meals often score high in saturated fats, salt and sugars, making for a high-calorie meal. This can lead to weight gain, high cholesterol and other health problems. Therefore, it is important to check the nutritional values of ready-to-eat meals in advance before the meals are purchased and offered to the customer.

  • Few nutrients

Some ready-made meals, often lower-quality meals, do not contain enough nutrients. The main focus is then on filling the stomach, rather than feeding it. In the process, vitamins, minerals and fibre are then forgotten.

  • Preservatives

Lower-quality ready-to-eat meals, where producers prioritise quantity over quality, also regularly contain a high amount of artificial ingredients and preservatives to keep the meals as long as possible. In some cases, dyes and other chemicals are then also added, which is pernicious for consumers’ health.

The importance of a reliable and authentic supplier

While ready-made meals can be an easy and quick way to put a hot meal on the table, it is important to be aware of the contents of such meals. Ready-made meals can be a source of nutrients, but they can also contain many unhealthy ingredients, such as high salt, fat and sugar.

 

It is therefore important to take a critical look at all producers of ready meals. By reading yourself into the products offered by the supplier, you can avoid bad ready meals and consciously choose the healthy varieties.

 

Despite the existing drawbacks and health risks of ready-made meals, there are also reliable and good suppliers on the market. So with Good Eats Italy, you can rest assured that you are offering authentic, Italian meals with 100% natural ingredients to your customers. Plus, with Good Eats Italy’s ready-made pasta dishes, you get a taste of Italy on your plate even though you are in the Netherlands.