Myles Hopper and Giles Humphries are co-founders of recipe box company Mindful Chef.  On a mission to help people lead healthier lifestyles, their boxes contain ingredients sourced from small, ethical suppliers in Devon where the duo grew up, and their recipes are based on innovative uses of fresh vegetables. The concept is clearly working - they have been voted the UK's favourite recipe box on TrustPilot. Each week they deliver delicious ingredients and recipes to thousands of households, including sporting stars Victoria Pendleton and Andy Murray, who are also investors in the company. 

Following the release of their first cookbook earlier this year, we caught up with the boys to find out more about the company, and why mindful farming is so important to them: 

Tell us about how Mindful Chef all started...

Myles: I was working in London as a personal trainer following a year out in Australia. Giles approached me with this idea of helping people eat healthy, great-tasting food and I thought it was the perfect way to be able to help people on a far wider basis than I was currently doing. I make sure all of our meals are nutritionally balanced, write a lot of the website's content around health and wellness and look after the partnerships team. 

Giles: I was working for the creative agency M&C Saatchi in Piccadilly. Life was good and I was enjoying London but felt, like a lot of others around me, that my diet could be much better if a simple service existed. After speaking with our third co-founder, Rob, we gave Myles a call and started dreaming up Mindful Chef. I look after our brand and marketing -for me, building a fantastic brand is one of the most exciting things you can do.

What can people expect from your recipe boxes?

Myles: We deliver all the pre-measured ingredients you need to cook up tasty, healthy dinners in less than 30 minutes. We differ from our competitors in that we never use any refined carbohydrates in our recipes (such as white pasta and white bread). Instead we ensure all of our recipes are nutritionally balanced and loaded with wholesome ingredients. Mindful Chef is also the only nationwide recipe box service to offer vegan options.

Giles: With an ever-changing menu and 8 recipes to pick from each week, there's always tons of variety to suit everyone's taste. From Asian-inspired dishes to British classics and everything in between, we help to make healthy eating easy and enjoyable for everyone.

Why is mindful farming so important to your business? 

Giles: Mindful farming is about supporting small local suppliers as much as possible whilst also understanding our impact on the environment. Too often nowadays people are picking up produce from supermarket shelves not realising its origins, its air-miles and its true impact on the environment. 

Myles: We know every single small supplier we work with, often visiting the farmers to tour their sites and educate ourselves on their way of life. Mindful farming also means cutting out the middle man and paying the farmer a fair price, connecting them direct to the consumer rather than operating through elongated supermarket supply chains. 

Giles: Finally it's so important to us because we passionately believe in reducing food waste at both consumer and corporate level. In this day and age food should not be thrown away and our zero waste food model means we can order exactly what we need from our farmers each week, with no over ordering or guessing. Everyone wins. 

What's your favourite recipe from the book and why? 

Myles: The balsamic & mustard glazed beef with squash and spinach mash is a winner - you can't beat a good steak.

Giles: It's hard to say. I'd probably go with the pan-fried sea bass with salsa verde & roasted tomato millet - the capers, parsley, mint and garlic in the salsa verde pack a punch! I also love our Keralan fish curry, perfect for summer evenings.

Check out this delicious Raspberry & Baobab Healthy Ice Cream recipe the pair created using Aduna Baobab Powder - the perfect summer treat! 

What does the future hold for Mindful Chef? 

Giles: The future is bright for Mindful Chef. We've signed a two book deal with the world's largest publisher Penguin Random House and were rated 2017's number 1 healthy eating recipe book by The Independent. 

Myles: We also have some exciting partnerships with some big names in the health and wellness world lined up, although we can't reveal anything just yet! 

Giles: Being voted officially the UK's favourite recipe box in the UK on Trustpilot is something we are extremely proud of and we are using this momentum to grow exponentially nationwide to provide more people with healthy evening meals. Watch this space!  

Find out more about Mindful Chef and check out some of their delicious, healthy recipes on their website.