Mindful Chef

How ethical is Mindful Chef?

Mindful Chef is a healthy recipe box company owned by Nestlé S.A. which has not achieved The GOOD Shopping Guide’s ethical benchmark on our Ethical Recipe Boxes Ratings Table and therefore cannot be classed as an ethical company based on its current practices and policies.

We recommend consumers consult our Ethical Recipe Boxes Ratings Table to find companies above the benchmark with Ethical Accreditation.

What does Mindful Chef do?

Mindful Chef is a UK-based healthy recipe box company founded in 2015 by three school friends: Giles Humphries, Myles Hopper, and Robert Grieg-Gran. The company specializes in nutritionally-balanced meals with gluten-free, dairy-free ingredients and no refined carbohydrates, delivered weekly across the UK.

In November 2020, Nestlé S.A. acquired a majority stake in Mindful Chef, which significantly reduced its ethical rating.

Why does Mindful Chef fail to meet the benchmark?

With a score of just 33 out of 100, Mindful Chef represents the poorest ethical performer in the recipe box sector. The company’s catastrophically below-benchmark performance stems from extraordinarily serious public record criticisms of its parent company Nestlé, alongside bottom ratings for animal welfare, political donations, genetic modification, and organic certification.

Nestlé’s public record criticisms are so serious that Mindful Chef receives two separate bottom ratings for this criterion. The irony of a B Corporation founded on mindfulness and social responsibility being owned by one of the world’s most criticized corporations represents a fundamental contradiction.

Mindful Chef receives bottom ratings for animal welfare and political donations through Nestlé’s practices. The company also lacks GMO-free policies despite positioning itself as health-focused, and has not achieved organic certification despite marketing sustainably-sourced ingredients. The UK household food waste sector faces significant challenges, making ethical sourcing essential.

What does Mindful Chef do well?

Mindful Chef maintains good environmental reporting and avoids involvement in nuclear power, fossil fuels, and armaments. However, these baseline expectations are vastly overshadowed by severe ethical failures.

What can Mindful Chef do to improve?

The overwhelming priority is addressing Nestlé’s catastrophic public record criticisms. Mindful Chef must also address bottom ratings for animal welfare and political donations, implement comprehensive GMO-free policies with verification, and pursue organic certification.

Additionally, the company should secure independent verification for all vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, and dairy-free claims.

Consumers seeking ethical recipe box options should consult companies above the benchmark on our Ethical Recipe Boxes Ratings Table, particularly those with Ethical Accreditation. Find out more about how we rate brands on ethical criteria.