What should I check before buying a meal prep business?

A meal prep business sells a routine. Customers order weekly, the kitchen cooks to a schedule, and the owner often does much of the work. That makes a few checks matter more than they would elsewhere. Start with the customers, then the things you would need to keep running: recipes, kitchen, packaging and delivery. The usual insurance gaps belong on the list too.

Subscribers and order history

Ask for order records by customer over a long period, not a single total. You want to see how long people stay, how many pause or cancel, and how many come from advertising and how many from referrals. Ask how the business handles a skipped week. Ask how many customers have stayed for a long time compared with recent sign-ups.

Recipes, labels and accounts

Confirm who owns the recipes, the brand name, the label design and the website, ordering and social media accounts. If a freelancer designed them, ask whether the owner holds the rights. Make sure the seller can hand over every login. Ask how allergen information and ingredient lists on the labels are kept current and checked against what is in the meals.

Kitchen, packaging and delivery

Read the kitchen lease or commissary agreement and ask whether the landlord or operator must agree to a new tenant. Find out which suppliers provide packaging and whether any contract ends at a sale. For delivery, ask who drives, in whose vehicle, and what the business promises customers about timing. Ask your insurer how deliveries are covered.

The owner’s part in the cooking

If the owner cooks, the earnings may not include a wage for that work. Ask what the owner does each day and what hiring a cook would cost. Agree on a handover period, and ask for the staff’s names and roles. The kitchen’s lease deserves its own read.