‘Food with purpose’: Yummy Owl meal service takes flight

Two Winnipeg entrepreneurs who give a hoot about healthy eating are attempting to spread the love — while turning a profit — via their new meal service.

Company owner Alistair Hopper called Yummy Owl “a bit of a natural fit” for he and chef Robin Maharaj. The service is just getting its wings, but soon, Hopper hopes to ship breakfast burritos and berry bowls across the city.

Yummy Owl is using a Whyte Ridge restaurant as its home base and so-called ghost kitchen. From there, its meals and snacks are collected and sent through Winnipeg.

“I’m a big fan of food with purpose,” said Hopper, 44.

He’s been that way for a while. Around 25 years ago, Hopper began his fitness journey. The gym became increasingly like home while he was a university student, so Hopper traded his career goal of teacher for personal trainer.

He worked at a few gyms and landed as business owner of Flex Fitness. Sixteen years and a COVID-19 pandemic later, Hopper still operates the 24-hour facility.

He met and became friends with Maharaj (and even acted as his personal trainer) through the chef’s Osborne Village restaurant: Deadfish Café, a quirky eatery Tourism Winnipeg once described as defying categorization. The Trinidadian-Canadian closed the spot in 2013.

Maharaj left Manitoba for a while. He worked in Montreal and Nunavut before returning to the keystone province.

In 2022, the chef began experimenting with whole foods. He was in rehab for alcoholism and started eating more fruit to satisfy sugar cravings, Maharaj said.

Maharaj took up exercising and devised a new meal plan, one filled with sweet potato and other vegetables.

“I didn’t want to eat healthy food just to be healthy,” Maharaj stated. “If it’s not delicious, I don’t want to be part of it.”

Fast-forward to Maharaj working in Winnipeg restaurants, bussing from the gym and scarfing down meals. He tweaked his new food regimen to be on-the-go.

Then, he contacted Hopper. Would Hopper market Maharaj’s meals to Flex Fitness members, maybe as a new business for the duo?

“I wanted to sell to more than just my client base,” Hopper said. “I took the ball and kind of ran with it.”

Maharaj’s idea comes at a time when spending on non-essentials has dwindled, at least in Hopper’s gym.

“It’s a luxury that I have to convince people to put money into,” Hopper said, adding it’s more difficult to attract new customers now than during the pandemic.

Despite consumers’ tight budgets, Hopper believes Yummy Owl will take off if people taste the food.

Maharaj prepares the meals in the Hangar — a soon-to-be-rebranded restaurant, he said — on Scurfield Boulevard, where he’s managing chef.

He comes in before the restaurant opens and preps the food for pickup or delivery. He’s been doing so since January.

Meanwhile, Hopper has made rounds to nearby gyms, offices and salons, advertising Yummy Owl and offering samples. “That’s what I’m focused on right now … branding.”

Competitors are plentiful. Hopper hopes to surpass the competition, he said, and grow Yummy Owl enough to hire another chef, taking the burden off Maharaj.

“The whole thing is hard on me, but it matters,” Maharaj said. “I want to give Yummy Owl every opportunity to succeed.”

Orders for Yummy Owl can come any time between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. The entrepreneurs plan to start a monthly subscription service May 13. Both will continue their respective jobs as gym owner and restaurant chef.

Yummy Owl advertises berry bowls for $8 and steaks for $15, not including delivery fees. Customers can pick up their food at the Hangar, Hopper added.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com