Evelyn Garland is not afraid of a challenge.

After all, the food and agri business management graduate had never even studied agricultural science until she entered the doors of UCD.

“I think I walked in on the first day and I heard the word ‘heifer’ and I was like: ‘What’s that?’” she recalls, laughing. “But sure, I got well used to it after the first year anyway!”

And the 23-year-old from north Dublin has brought the same drive to succeed with Simply Fit Food, her start-up with boyfriend and business partner Luke Judge, with approximately 4,500 meals delivered since September.

A keen sportswoman who has played camogie for Dublin and football with Skerries Harps, Evelyn has always been aware of the importance of a healthy diet, having been diagnosed with an underactive thyroid at 16.

“It makes me a lot more conscious of what I eat and how much I train,” she says, explaining that it was this interest in food that piqued her interest in agricultural science and saw her work with many organisations in the industry – including the National Dairy Council and Teagasc – during her degree.

However, it was meeting former graduates-turned-entrepreneurs during her final year that planted the seed to set up her own business.

“A lot of people would have come in and spoken to us about their jobs and that they did this course and where they are now, and I took a lot of inspiration from that,” she says, “I thought it was brilliant.”

Another influence was her boyfriend Luke. Having studied health promotion and physical activity, the Drogheda man had always been active like Evelyn, but in 2016 was diagnosed with a heart condition called Wolf Parkinson’s White.

“We were at the cinema and I just started to feel very bad,” recalls Luke of the “terrifying” experience that lead to his diagnosis.

“I went home and collapsed, so I was rushed to A&E and eventually I discovered that I had an irregular heartbeat.”

While an operation was soon scheduled and thankfully proved successful, Luke decided to overhaul his diet like Evelyn – which in turn provided further inspiration for Simply Fit Food.

“I started preparing clean, healthy salads and stuff each night before I went to work. I then realised when I was coming home from training and stuff at 10 o’clock at night, it was the last thing I wanted to be doing really, so I figured most people now have busy lifestyles as well and want to eat healthy,” he says.

“So that’s where we really came up with the idea for it.”

And so Simply Fit Food was launched in September, offering healthy meals delivered straight to your door in Dublin, Louth, Meath and Monaghan.

Pooling their savings for a start-up fund of approximately €8,000, Evelyn and Luke invested in a second-hand car-van for deliveries, commissioned a website for online orders, sourced key local suppliers such as Boyne Valley Seafood, The Dublin Meat Company and Drogheda Market, and identified a commercial kitchen in a community food hub in Ardee, Co Louth, where they cook and deliver from two days a week.

The concept is simple: customers pick and choose from plans ranging from five lunches or dinners for €40 to five lunches, five dinners and five snacks for €89, with popular options including their simply lean chicken curry, McLean turkey burger and teriyaki and lemon salmon, as well as snacks like peanut butter protein squares, granola with yoghurt and berries and energy balls.

“We’re one of only two companies in Ireland that actually lets our customers build their menu according to their tastes and preferences,” says Evelyn.

An active social media presence plus teaming up with “influencers” like Erin McGregor (sister of the “notorious” Conor) and style blogger Rosie Connolly, helped target their “super customer” who, according to their Google analytics, is the young working professional aged 25-34 with a greater disposable income.

But while Simply Fit Food delivers to Dublin, the couple believe much of the opportunity lies in the rural counties of Meath, Monaghan and Louth.

“It’s just about looking for that niche,” says Evelyn, “and for me it’s definitely up here. Everybody thinks to go straight to Dublin when they want to set up a business because they think that’s where the customers are. But in actual fact, not all of them are – a lot of them are up here.”

As the company is in its infancy, Luke is still working with his family’s plumbing business, while Evelyn is full-time with Simply Fit Food. However, the fact that they receive payment from customers before processing orders gives them a regular cash flow – a €6 delivery charge covers petrol costs, and keeping a close eye on waste (only 0.5% to be precise) makes it a tight ship. Indeed, Evelyn has already been able to pay herself a small wage and employ a part-time worker to help in the kitchen on cooking days. They have also received a grant from the Local Enterprise Office and benefitted from free mentoring sessions.

They recently started to outsource meal delivery to a courier service to free up more time to concentrate on other areas of the business, but their longer-term plan is to open Simply Fit Food units in each county, where people can pick up a healthy meal while on the go. They have already identified their first location in Drogheda but will need investment to make it happen. In the meantime, they have teamed up with their first gym, Sean Kilroy Fitness, where customers can order and collect their meal plans, with deliveries there for free.

While Evelyn acknowledges that some people might raise a brow at the fact they are just in their early 20s, she believes youth is very much on their side when it comes to running a business.

“I’d rather do it at an age where I don’t have a mortgage to pay, I don’t have kids to manage, I don’t have all that baggage,” she says. “If I’m going to do it, I’m going to do it at an age where I have very little to pay back or to worry about myself.”

And their advice to other recent graduates with business aspirations is to damn the detractors and just go for it.

“You know, it doesn’t matter what people think,” she says. “If it makes you happy and you think it’s worth it for you and you enjoy it above anything else, I’d say stick at it.”

For further information, visit www.simplyfitfood.com

Recipes

Simply Lean Chicken Curry

Serves two | 310 calories | 2.4g fat | 36.7g carbs | 27.7g proteins | Prep time: 20 mins

1 red chilli

3cm ginger

1 pepper

2 cloves garlic

Seasoning: ground pepper

2 lean chicken breasts

2 tsp. curry powder

150g long grain brown rice

3tsp soy sauce

Handful of spinach leaves (to garnish)

Coconut oil (approx two teaspoons)

1. Boil a pot of hot water and add in your rice. Boil the rice until cooked.

2. Heat the frying pan and add the coconut oil. When the oil has melted, place the chopped chilli and ginger on to the pan and fry for one minute. Then add the garlic and peppers and fry for a further minute.

3. Add in the chicken and pan fry until golden and crisp.

4. Continue to cook the chicken and add in your 3tsp of soy sauce and some seasoning. Mix the soy sauce thoroughly through the veg and chicken.

5. Add in the curry powder and a dash of water and mix through.

6. Stir the cooked rice in with the chicken and mixed veg

7. Use some spinach leaves to garnish.

8. Your simply lean chicken curry is ready. Tuck in!

Thai Beef Stir-Fry

Serves two | 477 calories | 14.9g fat | 33.4g protein | 48g carbs

1 red chilli

1 chopped pepper

2 cloves garlic

2 handfuls of chopped spring onion

2 egg noodle nests

1 lime

2 lean sirloin steaks, chopped

3 tsp soy sauce

Chopped coriander

Coconut oil (approx two teaspoons)

1. Boil some water in a pot and place the two egg nests in the hot water. Let the noodles simmer for 10 minutes until cooked.

2. Fry the chilli, chopped peppers, garlic and spring onion together and then add in the sirloin steak.

3. Cook the steak until juicy and tender.

4. Add in a squeeze of lime and continue mixing through.

5. Throw in the coriander and mix through.

6. Once the steak is cooked, add in the cooked egg noodles and the soy sauce and give it a good stir.

7. Serve on a hot plate and drizzle with some lime juice and crushed pepper on top.

Protein Pancakes

Serves one (makes two) | 270 calories | 6.8g fat | 31g protein | 34.5g carbs

1 egg

25g porridge oats

1tsp vanilla extract

½ tsp honey

1 banana

1 scoop protein powder (optional)

Drop of low fat milk

3 tablespoons 0% fat Greek yoghurt

Handful of mixed berries

Coconut oil (approx two teaspoons)

1. Blend all the ingredients in a mixer.

2. Add oil to a frying pan.

3. Pour enough mixture on to the pan to make one pancake.

4. Once the pancake has been flipped and turns golden, pour the rest of the mixture on to the pan and repeat the process until cooked.

5. Serve with 0% fat Greek yoghurt and a handful of mixed berries. CL