We all want to eat healthier food with our families, but who has the time? Made Foods will give you that time by eliminating the chore of cooking by preparing meals for you that are both healthy and delicious.
Opening this month and next in four locations in Calgary, Made Foods will offer busy families the option of buying freshly-prepared meals that they can heat up in the store or bring home to eat together around the dinner table, a ritual that too many families rarely experience these days.
“Food is about family and community and being able to get that time,” said Andrea Harling, the vice president, executive chef and one of the three founders of Made Foods. “We look back at those days before where families had meals around the table and we have kind of lost that experience because of how fast and busy everyone is. The whole idea behind this is to bring some of that back to people.”
Made Foods has partnered with local farmers to source their ingredients and the company aims to be completely transparent with customers about what they are eating, something that is rarely possible at many restaurants.
“There are some really awesome farmers out there who really care about their products,” said chef Harling. “For me, as a chef, that’s the fun part, the inspiring part. To be able to work with people who care so much.”
Harling says that some of the farmers they work with have been growing the same vegetables for generations and their love for what they do inspires them. “To be able to put so much love into what we’re doing, translates into what people eat,” she said.
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Made Foods will change its menu four times per year in harmony with the seasons and the produce available to them. Chef Harling says they will have foods for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack time, the Made menu will offer roasted-veggie burritos, turkey chili, smoked chicken enchiladas, lemon-poached trout, braised-beef risotto, curried lamb hash and a list of other tasty options.
Chris Dobson, president and co-founder of the company says that Made Foods doesn’t want to just be a retail outlet, but to also truly be a part of each community in which it operates. For example, they are starting a lunch program for disadvantaged children in local schools. “We were astonished when we heard the amount of kids who go to school who don’t have lunches,” he said. They will also donate unsold meals to the Calgary Food Bank.
Made Foods is also very conscious of food waste so it strives to use much of what it consumes. “Instead of doing cold-pressed juices we’re doing full-fibre smoothies so we have no waste which is a big part of going back to the environment and trying to be sustainable,” said Harling. “Everything we do we try to put back into something so we’re not actually wasting anything.”
That ethos even extends to their packaging. It’s all backyard compostable and bio-degradable, even the cutlery. “Everything we do we try to make the least amount of impact as possible,” said Harling.
Next year, Made Foods will open more stores in Calgary, giving more families the option of healthier eating and the chance to eat meals together.
Made Food’s Store Locations:
West 85th
Unit 120,20 Westpark Link S.W.
Calgary,AB T3H 4C7
Garrison Woods
3534 Garrison Gate S.W.
Calgary, AB
T2T 6N1
Willow Park
Unit 564 10816 McLeod Trail S.E.
Calgary, AB
T2J 5N8
Glenmore Landing
Unit C144 1600 90th Avenue S.W.
Calgary, AB
T2V 5A8
Crowfoot
43 Crowfoot Terrace NW
Calgary, AB
T3G 4J8
For more information, visit madefoods.com.
