Conor Murphy, founder of healthy ready meals company GymChef, is passionate about healthy eating, but that was not always the case.

Nutrition was not a priority while he was in college studying sports management at University College Dublin. The catalyst was taking an office job after college. He says he did not naturally eat healthy food while working in an office environment.

“I found it difficult to eat healthy when I didn’t have time to cook my own food. Convenience health food didn’t exist at that point,” he said. He started researching healthy eating and nutrition on his own.

When the opportunity arose to take a year out to go travelling in 2011, the idea for healthy ready meals started formulating.

Murphy had always been interested in sports business and industry. He graduated from UCD with a degree in sports management in 2009. He had also coached football teams since 2007 and became interested in sports nutrition and helping the athletes he coached to eat healthier.

He took a corporate IT sales role at Dell immediately after graduation. “I just came out of college in the middle of the recession, and it was a case of taking whatever opportunities were available,” he said.

Developing GymChef when he got back from travelling in 2012, he did a business course called Discovery Zone, which was run by the Meath Enterprise Board. The programme helped Murphy develop his business idea: healthy ready meals for people on the go.

“I always wanted to try and set up my own business . . . Setting up my own business was a way to jump to the top [of the ladder] and take control of my own destiny.”

Qualified

While developing his business, Murphy studied for a postgraduate diploma in sports and exercise nutrition, which he finished last summer. He is now a qualified sports and exercise nutritionist.

He spent all of 2013 and half of 2014 researching and developing GymChef.

Murphy is focused on the business and nutrition side of the company. The actual cooking he leaves to the professionals.

A chef from St Angela’s College in Sligo helped to develop the recipes.

“I had an idea of what I wanted it to be nutritionally and got a chef to make it taste good,” Murphy said.

GymChef makes a range of prepared meals for people who are busy and do not have time to cook for themselves. The meals have no additives or preservatives and are high in protein. There is also a low carb option.

“People can pop into their local Supervalu, bring home a meal, heat it up and eat healthy without having to cook,” Murphy says.

The company started out with two meals: slow-cooked beef with mixed vegetables and a Hungarian-style sauce and a turkey meal with rice and tomato sauce.

The meals retailed for €5.99 and were available in 10 SuperValu stores and four Fresh supermarkets in Dublin, along with a few independent shops.

Murphy says there was a lot of interest in the product, and several of the stores came across the meals on Facebook and approached him about stocking GymChef products in their stores.

Crossroads

GymChef was trading from October to December 2014. Murphy stopped trading temporarily to switch producers. Now, he says, he is at a crossroads.

“At the moment, I’m looking at either taking on a new producer or setting up production myself . . . I’m looking to take on a business partner and maybe doing production ourselves or getting a chef to produce. I want more control and the ability to improve the product more quickly.

“I’m using the [AIB Start-up] Academy to talk through different options and talk to other people who have had similar experiences to me. It’s useful to get their ideas.

“I’ve really enjoyed the Start-up Academy so far. It’s been very useful. It’s good to be in a group of people making progress with business and doing really well. We are learning from each other,” he said.

Murphy enjoys owning his own business. “Every day is different, and every day is interesting.”

GymChef is a finalist in the AIB Start-up Academy. For more information, see www.gymchef.ie.