My Food Bag co-founders to step down

Internet Retailing

9th Apr 2018

New Zealand-based meal kit delivery business, My Food Bag, is on the hunt for a new chief executive, as co-founders Cecilia and James Robinson announce their decision to step down from the day-to-day running of the business and transition into governance roles.

“Both James and I are incredibly proud of the business we have built. We are excited to continue to help grow the business and contribute to the strategic direction as founder shareholders through our ongoing directorships as part of the My Food Bag board,” Cecilia said.

The Robinsons came up with the idea for My Food Bag, which allows Kiwis to order online and receive food bags delivered to their home, containing recipes and ingredients for a week’s worth of meals, in 2013.

They approached business veteran Theresa Gattung and Master Chef winner Nadia Lim and her husband Carlos Bagrie to help start the business, and former chief executive of Saatchi & Saatchi Kevin Roberts joined the team as chair of the board in 2015.

My Food Bag has since become the third largest food retailer in New Zealand, delivering approximately 40 million meals over the past five years and earning industry accolades along the way.

It was last week awarded the ‘Best of the Best Supreme Auckland Business Award 2017’ at the Westpac Auckland Business awards and Cecilia was named the ‘Supreme Winner in the Women of Influence Awards’ in 2017. It also ranked fifth on the Kenexa Best workplace survey.

Preparing for the next stage of growth

Roberts said the couple’s leadership has been critical to the company’s success.

“Their leadership has been focused on building customer love and working to develop My Food Bag’s people and culture. Their focus and commitment have led the company to achieve outstanding results,” he said, calling the meal kit delivery company one of the most successful companies founded in New Zealand over the last twenty years.

The business recently launched a new weight loss offering, Fresh Start, and has ventured into the ready-to-eat meal category.

Cecilia said she and James have been focused on preparing the team for the next phase of growth, following the partnership of My Food Bag with Waterman Capital in 2016.

“We’ve added experienced new members to our executive team, as well as further strengthened our winning culture,” she said.

My Food Bag in a statement said the new CEO will be announced shortly.