Track your macros: Meal prep delivery services see gains in Singapore, amid health and fitness boom

[SINGAPORE] As health and fitness emerge as growing priorities in life, more consumers in Singapore are turning to meal preparation delivery services for nutritionally balanced, convenient offerings.

Meal preparation – or meal prep, for short – refers to the act of preparing meals for consumption later. A meal prep service provider delivers full meals or pre-portioned ingredients, which come either chilled or frozen, to customers’ doorsteps.

Unlike traditional catering companies, these providers typically list total calorie counts and a breakdown of the three primary macronutrients – carbohydrates, proteins and fats – for their offerings.

Their services are offered via tiered subscription plans or on a pay-per-order basis. Prices for meals vary widely, and can range from around S$8 to S$18 depending on ingredients, portion sizes and whether it is purchased as part of a structured meal plan.

While the Covid-19 pandemic initially boosted demand for meal prep services as people were confined at home, players told The Business Times that sales have remained on a steady uptick long after dine-out restrictions were lifted.

Since its establishment in 2019, home-grown provider Fresher Performance Meals has seen sales grow more than 50 per cent annually, with co-founder Jerome Seow expecting to maintain this momentum in the coming year.

Seow, who characterised the pandemic as a “definitive turning point” for the business, said: “Many customers who initially turned to meal prep for convenience (then) discovered it transformed their relationship with nutrition, allowing them to maintain a healthier lifestyle.”

Similarly, Yummy Bros has reported a 20 to 30 per cent year-on-year growth in sales since 2020.

This trajectory, said CEO and co-founder Gerald Tan, suggests that “the underlying demand for convenient and healthy meals was already present”, with the pandemic merely accelerating this. Founded in 2018, Yummy Bros was among the earlier entrants into the meal prep services scene.

Greater awareness of nutrition

Much of the sustained demand has been fuelled by a new generation of consumers who are more informed about portion control and tracking their macronutrients, or macros, said players.

Utso Bhattacharya, co-founder of TSquared Eats, said: “Consumers understand protein intake, calorie balance and macronutrients in a way they did not, five years ago.

“They are more conscious of what they eat and how it affects their energy levels, body composition and long-term health.”

Today, TSquared Eats produces more than 3,500 meals weekly – up from “a couple of hundreds” when it was established in 2021 – with sales growing almost 30 per cent year on year.

Shirley Phua, director of Nutrition Kitchen Singapore, pointed to a broader rise of fitness and wellness culture in Singapore, with gyms, marathons and competitions such as Hyrox seeing strong take-up rates.

She observed that individuals focused on performance and fitness often seek meals that are “high in protein, balanced in macronutrients, and aligned with specific health goals”. Nutrition Kitchen, which is based in Hong Kong, expanded to Singapore in 2018.

Seow of Fresher noted, for instance, that more customers today are aware that high-protein food can help one stay fuller for longer and support weight management, as well as recovery.

Likewise, YoloFoods founder Alexis Bauduin said “simply offering healthy food” is no longer sufficient today, as consumers expect meals that produce “a clear outcome”.

“They might want a precise calorie target for weight loss, a minimum protein intake for muscle building, or meals that support blood sugar control or gut health.”

This demand for specificity was what drove Michael Tanri to establish Nutrify Meals in 2019, a meal prep delivery service offering fully customisable meals.

Unlike other players that provide a range of standard meal options with limited portion sizes, Nutrify Meals allows customers to build their own meals from scratch by mixing and matching different proteins, carbohydrates and vegetables, as well as choosing portions that range from 50 g to 300 g.

Said Tanri: “This flexibility is important because everyone has different nutritional needs depending on their gender, body type and fitness goals.”

Demand beyond gymbros

Demand for meal prep services has extended beyond the health- and fitness-conscious to busy working professionals and families, who value convenience.

It is difficult to cook on a consistent basis while balancing career and family responsibilities, said Bhattacharya, adding: “Structured meal prep reduces friction and decision fatigue.”

Tan noted that Yummy Bros’ highest-spending customers fall within the age group of 25 to 44, suggesting that working professionals make up a core customer demographic.

“Many working professionals want to free up time that would otherwise be spent cooking, grocery shopping or queueing for takeaway food,” he said.

As Bauduin sees it, “the much larger opportunity” for meal prep providers lies in households still dependent on hawker centres or delivery apps for food, as well as Singapore’s growing ageing population.

To get YoloFoods to cater more to families, he launched “YoloKids” in 2024: a new category of nutritionist-approved frozen meals for children, which features smaller portions and flavours more suited to young tastebuds.

Rising orders, alongside rising costs

Some players have expanded their operations to cope with growing order volumes.

Yummy Bros started out with one central kitchen in 2019, before leasing a second site in 2022 to support islandwide deliveries. In 2023, TSquared Eats moved from a shared kitchen facility to a commercial kitchen about 1.5 times larger.

As Fresher’s orders had more than doubled by end-2023, the business shifted to a central kitchen twice the size of its previous facility. Seow expects the space to support Fresher’s growth for one to two more years, before the next expansion.

But the growth has not come without challenges. Players said rising costs across the supply chain – from raw ingredients, to manpower, to rent, to delivery – have eroded margins of late.

Much of these increases, Tanri noted, stem from ongoing geopolitical tensions such as the Russia-Ukraine war and the recent Middle East conflict.

He said the cost of raw ingredients has jumped by more than 50 per cent over the past year, with suppliers’ prices fluctuating weekly.

“There are multiple cost layers across the entire process, especially since we deal with perishable goods…when you look at the bigger picture, (these) add up significantly,” he added.

As Tanri sees it, Singapore’s meal prep delivery services market also appears saturated, with consumers today having more options.

By his estimates, there are now more than 15 specialised meal prep providers in the Republic, up from fewer than five in 2019. This excludes larger catering firms that offer similar meal delivery services, he said.

Bauduin noted that meal prep providers face increasing competition from other offerings in the market, including food delivery platforms and ready-to-eat frozen meals from supermarkets. “That makes differentiation critical,” he said.

Investing in more gains

In response, players have set their sights on capturing more market share – from venturing overseas to developing business-to-business revenue streams.

Since 2022, YoloFoods has made inroads into neighbouring markets, with Malaysia as its first overseas stop. Last December, the brand moved beyond retailing its meals online to having them stocked in supermarket chains Aeon and Jaya Grocer.

Bauduin is currently talking to wholesale distributors in Hong Kong and Thailand, with plans to enter both markets by Q3 and Q4 this year respectively.

Also on the cards for YoloFoods is a Series A funding round in 2027. The proceeds – which Bauduin declined to disclose – will support expansion into the larger markets of Japan, Australia and Europe, where demand for ready-to-eat food is rapidly growing.

Meanwhile, Nutrition Kitchen Singapore aims to secure more partnerships with corporates and businesses, said Phua. Most of its orders are from individual customers.

This includes collaborating with gyms and fitness studios to offer meals to their clients, as well as catering more regularly to companies.

Others such as Fresher have expanded their offerings to structured weight management programmes.

In early 2025, the brand launched its “6 in 60” programme designed to help customers lose 6 kg in 60 days. It has since run four closed cohorts of 40 to 50 participants, with each receiving personalised nutritional guidance via WhatsApp and a comprehensive meal plan that includes delivery of Fresher’s meals.

Beyond lunch and dinner, Yummy Bros plans to broaden its range of meals to include more grab-and-go breakfast items and supper options.

Said Tan: “Healthy eating used to require a lot of time and discipline. What meal prep services are doing today is removing that friction, so people can maintain a healthy routine even with busy lifestyles.”