n Leapingsalmon may have been set up quickly on a gut feeling but it's rapidly showing the potential of delivered meal management'. Helen Gregory reports Consumers want little effort but they also want great meals. It's a demanding best-of-both- worlds scenario retailers and manufacturers are cottoning on to ­ as the increase in supermarket food to go counters and offerings such as Birds Eye Wall's Enjoy! range of prepared meal ingredients indicates. But with IGD warning the industry needs to think outside the ready meal category and more about meal management to help simplify people's choices, it seems that some forward-thinkers are already responding. Unilever Bestfoods has just opened the first outlet for its Rocket brand ready meals at Waterloo station, selling meals in kit form at £6 per person, while a London based service is also rising to the challenge. Leapingsalmon has been up and running for more than a year, targeting consumers too tired to shop or chop but wanting to create a gourmet dinner. Its home delivered meal kits include everything needed (measured, washed and cut) for a meal in 30 minutes or less, delivered nationwide the next day (the same night in London) in cool bags (left on the doorstep if someone isn't in). Despite very little advertising, apart from Tube posters, direct mail leafleting and a bit on cable tv, the service has mushroomed from its inception as a purely web based service, through word of mouth. Gushing reviews and endorsements from foodies in the broadsheet supplements have also boosted its credibility. In its Fulham offices, founder and md James Marshall says extra potential is now being realised as it moves into other channels. Phone ordering now makes up a large chunk of the business. He is confident the company has made enough noise to attract the interest of many in the industry and adds that now the concept and brand are better known, he has his sights set on a store or concession. He's also not ruling out linking up with other home shopping operators. The young entrepreneur is cagey about the store plans but admits a first will open in the capital some time this year. "I want to get critical mass before we talk about it too much. But I'm certain this is the way the market is going. I don't think some people will mind actually picking it up in person on the way home from work ­ a shop would be more in your face' and a good form of advertising for us." Marshall had no experience in the foodservice or retailing business, but says he saw the way the market was going and decided to be the first on the bandwagon. He set up the business with friend and partner Peter Kenyon using private funds, without even doing much big budget research. He admits it was set up on the basis of what he, his wife and friends wanted. "We did it all pretty fast." His background is in marketing and logistics. After eight years in Asia, he developed a passion for customer service of a standard unsusual to the UK. "I'm fanatical about it. A happy customer is worth a lot of money." Marshall admits that the offer isn't for everyone, but believes that the target audience, from students to young families, is wide enough to exploit. The average customer is between 25 and 45, working, busy, and with a fair bit of disposable cash. Couples with a baby are fans. "Going out can be expensive once you've paid for a restaurant meal, taxi and babysitter," Marshall says. Often there's a romantic reason for using the service. Students wanting to impress dates are keen users. He is coy, too, about user figures but believes Leapingsalmon is now market leader with a growing customer base. Even the recent launch of Enjoy! did little to dent his confidence. "We're not unhappy to see people doing the same thing as us, because there's such a big market. But we had a wry smile when we saw Enjoy!'s advertising as it was so similar to what we do." Marshall insists the firm is very different to Birds Eye Wall's proposition, in that it is about recreating the restaurant experience at home. "There's not much fun in heating up a frozen packet, whereas with us you get a lot more satisfaction. I think they've over-claimed." Although menus change every couple of weeks, the overall product is very similar to how it was at the launch. There are 10 to 12 main courses, ranging from pork scaloppine with potato purée and broccoli, to roast salmon with a nori and pine nut crust, along with five starters and five desserts ­ similar to a restaurant menu. Meals for two start at £14.50 with a £4.50 delivery charge, and a new service also recommends and ships out wine. Three kitchens in the London area have staff preparing the raw ingredients and although a lot of preparation is needed and it's hard to mass produce products, Marshall admits that margins are good. "There's lots of stuff on the horizon and even potential outside the UK ­ we're pretty ambitious. We're innovators rather than followers." {{FEATURES }}