COOK
COOK is a UK-based frozen ready-meals producer and retailer founded in 1997, selling hand-prepared meals, puddings, and meal boxes through 90 shops, cookfood.net e-commerce, and corporate gifting channels. It serves UK families, new parents, and health-conscious consumers with a premium, B Corp-certified positioning backed by ABF as a significant minority investor.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1997
- HeadquartersSittingbourne, United Kingdom
- Headcount1,001–5,000
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What COOK does
COOK Trading Ltd is a UK-based frozen ready-meals producer and retailer founded in 1997 by Edward Perry and Dale Penfold and headquartered in Sittingbourne, Kent. The company produces and sells hand-prepared frozen main meals, puddings, sides, and curated meal boxes through two production kitchens (Kent and a purpose-built puddings facility in Ilton, Somerset, opened 2015), a 90-shop UK retail estate, and the cookfood.net e-commerce platform offering home delivery and click & collect. Core technology centers on traditional craft methods — bratt-pan slow cooking up to six hours, hand-marination up to 24 hours, hand-made pastry, hand-finishing, and daily Taste Panel batch tasting — combined with frozen-food preservation delivering up to nine months' shelf life, supported by exclusive higher-welfare supplier relationships (Dingley Dell pork, Silver Hill Farm duck, A.J. Barber's Cheddar).
The business operates a predominantly direct-to-consumer model with a per-product pricing structure (kids meals ~£3.75, individual portions £5-7, multi-portion meals £10-20, meal boxes ~£90) plus a Subscribe & Save subscription offering free delivery, gift cards (physical and e-gift), and a corporate gifting channel offering 10% off gift cards to businesses. Customer segments span families, new parents (10% discount programme), health-conscious consumers (Love Eating Well under-500-calorie range), and corporate buyers. The company is B Corp certified since 2013 and operates social impact programmes including the RAW Talent Programme (nearly 250 recruits since 2014) and the One Feeds Two school-meal partnership (over 5 million meals delivered in Malawi).
Ownership is private with Associated British Foods as a significant minority investor (initial 2020 stake, increased to 25-50% in October 2025), and the company has additionally accessed HSBC capital (~£21m, 2019). COOK has been awarded Compassion in World Farming awards across multiple proteins, multiple Great Taste Awards, and Best Companies 2025 recognition. Revenue grew 13.2% in the year ending March 2024, though profit reportedly declined in the same period.
COOK firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- COOK
- Legal name
- COOK Trading Ltd
- Website
- https://cookfood.net
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1997
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1,001–5,000 employees
- Short description
- COOK is a UK-based frozen ready-meals producer and retailer founded in 1997, selling hand-prepared meals, puddings, and meal boxes through 90 shops, cookfood.net e-commerce, and corporate gifting channels. It serves UK families, new parents, and health-conscious consumers with a premium, B Corp-certified positioning backed by ABF as a significant minority investor.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where COOK is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Sittingbourne
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices2 records
Markets served
COOK business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D
Revenue model
- Frozen Ready Meals Sales: Core revenue from direct-to-consumer sales of frozen ready meals and puddings through e-commerce and retail shops. Products range from individual portions to family meals and meal boxes.
- Gift Cards: Sale of physical and e-gift cards for use at COOK shops and online. Cards are FSC-certified and recyclable.
- Corporate Gifting: Business gifting programme offering 10% off COOK gift cards for corporate rewards, celebrations, and Christmas gifts. Includes bulk ordering for businesses.
- Subscription (Subscribe & Save): Subscription programme offering free delivery on every order for regular customers.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Standard per-product pricing for individual meals and meal boxes |
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Corporate gifting with 10% discount on gift cards |
| Subscription | Annual | New Parents discount - 10% off for 12 months |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels6 records
COOK product offering
Product offeringCore offering
COOK produces and sells hand-prepared frozen ready meals, puddings, and curated meal boxes directly to consumers through an e-commerce website and 90 retail shops across the UK. The product range spans individual portions to family-size meals for 8, including vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free options, with extended nine-month frozen shelf life. The company also offers gift cards, a Subscribe & Save subscription for free delivery, and a corporate gifting channel.
Product overview
COOK is a UK-based frozen ready meals company operating a platform-plus-modules architecture. The core offering is hand-prepared frozen ready meals (main meals, puddings, sides) available for home delivery or collection from 90 UK shops. Product portfolio includes: Frozen Ready Meals (main meals, vegetarian/vegan, kids' meals, dietary-specific), Puddings (desserts), Meal Boxes (curated collections including Meal Box For One, First Fortnight For New Parents, New Parents 7 Nights of Meals), Gift Cards (physical and digital), Business Gifting, and New Parents Discount Card. COOK also operates social impact programs including the RAW Talent Programme and One Feeds Two partnership. Meals are prepared by hand in the COOK Kitchen in Kent using the same ingredients and techniques as home cooking, and delivered frozen.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Frozen Ready Meals Hand-prepared frozen main meals spanning portion sizes from one to eight people across cuisines (British, Indian, Thai, Italian, French, Mediterranean, Pan Asian) with vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free options, plus kids' meals, sauces and sides. Sold to individual consumers and families for home delivery, click-and-collect, and in-store purchase.
- Frozen Puddings Frozen desserts including hot puddings, cold puddings, cheesecakes, pavlovas, tarts, cakes, traybakes, ice cream and ice lollies, with portion sizes from 1-2 people up to 8+ sharing. Produced at the purpose-built COOK Puddings facility in Ilton, Somerset (opened 2015).
- Meal Boxes
Quantifiable outcome
- Over 5 million school meals provided to children in Malawi through One Feeds Two partnership
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use COOK
Customer profileNamed customers4 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
COOK technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
COOK partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- One Feeds TwocoreEvery time a customer buys a COOK Kids' meal, a free school meal is provided to a child in Malawi through this partnership. COOK has provided over 5 million school meals since the partnership began. The programme supports school attendance and helps raise communities out of poverty through education.
- UK Prisons (HMP Elmley, Rochester, Standford Hill, East Sutton, Swaleside)minorCOOK works closely with local prisons to recruit people leaving prison into the RAW Talent Programme. The programme provides employment opportunities that significantly reduce reoffending rates - finding steady work halves the likelihood of re-offending.
- Caring Hands (Chatham)minorCOOK works with this church-run charity that supports vulnerable people including those experiencing homelessness and addiction. COOK offers paid positions at COOK to people identified as ready for work by Caring Hands. COOK also donates leftover food, helping provide around 1,500 meals a week.
- Dingley Dell (Suffolk)coreFamily-owned farm supplying higher-welfare pork from pigs born, reared and grown outdoors. Dingley Dell has won awards for quality, enterprise and conservation. They share COOK's belief that responsible animal welfare and great flavour goes hand in hand.
- Silver Hill Farm (Republic of Ireland)coreFamily-owned company supplying all COOK duck. They have developed their own unique breed over 50 years, famed for its taste. Ducks are reared free to roam in barns with zero carbon footprint on their farms. AA graded by Global Food Safety Initiative.
- A.J. Barber's (West Country)minorCheese supplier making Cheddar since 1833 - the oldest surviving Cheddar-makers in the world. They are sole guardians of the country's last remaining traditional cheese starter cultures.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
COOK competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Pukka Pies: UK frozen and chilled pie manufacturer with major grocery distribution. Comparable on pie product category, British provenance and supermarket + foodservice channels, though more mass-market than COOK.
- Charlie Bigham's: UK premium ready-meal brand selling hand-prepared restaurant-quality meals through supermarket and DTC channels. Closest direct competitor to COOK on positioning, price-point and craft-prepared messaging.
- Pieminister: UK frozen and chilled pie specialist with DTC and grocery distribution. Directly comparable on product format (pies), premium positioning and DTC + retail shop model.
- Gousto: UK DTC meal-kit company with subscription-based model. Comparable to COOK on DTC-first GTM, family meal occasion, and recurring-revenue structure, though via kits rather than frozen ready meals.
- Cook Trading Ltd / COOK (historical overlap with COOK itself): Listed for completeness — note COOK has no other consumer-facing brand that competes in its specific niche of hand-prepared frozen ready meals delivered alongside a 90-shop DTC estate.
Broad incumbents
- Birds Eye (Nomad Foods): UK market-leading frozen food brand owned by Nomad Foods. Overlaps directly with COOK on frozen-meal category and grocery channel, but at mass-market price points and via industrial production.
- HelloFresh: Largest global meal-kit subscription operator with significant UK presence. Comparable on DTC subscription, meal-occasion targeting and recipe-led content, but operates at much larger scale and via kits not frozen meals.
- Iceland Foods: UK frozen-food specialist retailer with broad ready-meal range including premium own-label. Comparable as a UK frozen-meal channel competitor, but operates at discount positioning versus COOK's premium tier.
- M&S Food (Gastropub / Plant Kitchen ranges): Marks & Spencer's premium ready-meal ranges compete with COOK on quality, British sourcing and dietary-specific options (Plant Kitchen for vegan). Significant UK grocery footprint provides scale advantages.
Emerging players
- Cookerybooks / recipe-box niche — Mindful Chef: UK DTC recipe-box subscription focused on healthy, premium meals. Comparable on DTC subscription, health-conscious positioning and family-occasion targeting, though meal-kit rather than frozen ready meal format.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
COOK social profiles
Digital presenceCOOK financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
COOK leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
COOK funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors2 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
COOK M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about COOK
What does COOK do?
COOK produces and sells hand-prepared frozen ready meals, puddings, and curated meal boxes directly to consumers through an e-commerce website and 90 retail shops across the UK. The product range spans individual portions to family-size meals for 8, including vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free options, with extended nine-month frozen shelf life. The company also offers gift cards, a Subscribe & Save subscription for free delivery, and a corporate gifting channel.
Is COOK a public or private company?
COOK is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was COOK founded?
COOK was founded in 1997. It employs 1,001 to 5,000 people.
Where is COOK based?
COOK is headquartered in Sittingbourne, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does COOK make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Frozen Ready Meals Sales are the primary driver. The others are gift Cards, corporate Gifting and subscription (Subscribe & Save).
Who are COOK's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Pukka Pies, Charlie Bigham's, Pieminister, Gousto and Cook Trading Ltd / COOK (historical overlap with COOK itself). Broad incumbents are Birds Eye (Nomad Foods), HelloFresh, Iceland Foods and M&S Food (Gastropub / Plant Kitchen ranges). Cookerybooks / recipe-box niche — Mindful Chef is listed as an emerging player.
Does COOK have an API?
No public API is recorded for COOK.