ByRuby
ByRuby is a UK-based DTC frozen ready meal brand that makes handmade, flash-frozen dishes in small batches and delivers them directly to consumers and via Waitrose/Booths retail, serving busy families, new parents, and gift buyers with subscription and one-time purchase options.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2018
- HeadquartersLondon, United Kingdom
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What ByRuby does
ByRuby is a UK-based direct-to-consumer frozen ready meal brand that produces handmade dishes in small batches and flash-freezes them for home delivery. Founded by Ruby, a Leith's-trained chef, and her creative co-founder Milly, the company offers 12 core main-dish SKUs (e.g., Coq Au Vin, Fish Pie, Lasagne, Beef Bourguignon, Thai curries) and 2 side products (rice), marketed at individual portions from £6.95 and themed bundles ranging from £19.81 to £69.11. Products are positioned as a premium, additive-free alternative to takeaway and mass-market ready meals, using British-sourced ingredients (grass-fed beef, free-range chicken) and MSC-certified fish.
The business operates across three channels: a Shopify-powered DTC e-commerce site (byruby.co.uk) with a Recharge-powered subscription offering 10% recurring savings; a wholesale portal (wholesale.byruby.co.uk) for stockists; and physical retail listings in Waitrose and Booths supermarkets. Fulfilment is via DPD with temperature-controlled, insulated packaging (using Pluumo compostable liners), delivering Wednesday through Friday across UK mainland only. A Build Your Own Bundle tool and themed bundles (New Parent, Get Well Soon, Family Freezer Fill, Microwave, 80s Revival) support gifting and occasion-based purchasing. Klarna buy-now-pay-later is integrated at checkout.
The company is privately held, bootstrapped, with no disclosed external funding and is based in Woodbridge, Suffolk. Customer segments span busy professionals and families (primary), new parents, gift buyers, and microwave-only meal seekers. Marketing is concentrated in content (blog, recipes, 'Meet the Founder' series), Instagram (@byrubyfoods), and email with a £10 first-order incentive. ByRuby has won multiple Great Taste Awards, which is a central element of its brand credibility and premium positioning.
ByRuby firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- ByRuby
- Legal name
- by-ruby
- Website
- https://byruby.co.uk
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2018
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- ByRuby is a UK-based DTC frozen ready meal brand that makes handmade, flash-frozen dishes in small batches and delivers them directly to consumers and via Waitrose/Booths retail, serving busy families, new parents, and gift buyers with subscription and one-time purchase options.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
ByRuby industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Frozen Ready Meals
- NAICS
- Frozen Specialty Food Manufacturing (311412), Frozen Food Manufacturing (31141), Packaged Frozen Food Merchant Wholesalers (42442)
- SIC
- Canned, Frozen & Preservd Fruit, Veg & Food Specialties (2030)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Frozen prepared meals & entrées manufacturing (AFAKAHAA)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Frozen Prepared Foods & Meals Manufacturing (AFAKACAH), Frozen Prepared Meals Retail (CRAHAJAE), Frozen Prepared Meals & Entrées Wholesale (AFAIAHAG)
Keywords
Where ByRuby is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- London
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
ByRuby business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Operations, Supply Chain, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D
Revenue model
- Direct Meal Sales: One-time purchases of individual frozen ready meals and pre-made bundles through the e-commerce website. Customers can select from various serving sizes (1, 2, or 4 portions) and add items to cart for single delivery.
- Subscription Meal Plans: Recurring subscription model offering 10% savings on all orders. Customers choose delivery frequency from every 2 weeks up to every 8 weeks. Subscriptions can be modified, paused, or cancelled with 72 hours notice before delivery.
- Gift Cards: E-gift vouchers available in denominations from £10 to £200, valid for 1 year from purchase date. Can be used toward any products on the website.
- Wholesale/Retail Distribution: Products sold through third-party retail partners including Waitrose and Booths supermarkets. Wholesale portal available at wholesale.byruby.co.uk.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Individual ready meals priced from £6.95 |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Pre-made meal bundles from £19.81 to £69.11 |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Gift cards from £10 to £200 |
| Subscription | Monthly | Subscription plans with 10% recurring discount |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels6 records
ByRuby product offering
Product offeringCore offering
ByRuby produces and sells handmade frozen ready meals prepared in small batches by a team of chefs, then immediately flash-frozen to lock in freshness with no additives or preservatives. The range of approximately 12 main dishes plus rice sides is sold directly to UK consumers through the byruby.co.uk Shopify website on a one-time or subscription basis, via themed pre-made bundles, and through retail partners Waitrose and Booths as well as a wholesale portal.
Product overview
ByRuby is a UK-based frozen ready meal delivery company offering handmade dishes prepared from scratch and frozen at their freshest. The product portfolio consists of 12 core individual ready meal products (including classics like Fish Pie, Lasagne, and Coq au Vin, as well as adventures like Thai curries and Chicken Tikka Masala), complemented by 2 side products (rice varieties), gift vouchers, and 9 themed meal bundles (New Parent, Vegetarian, Curry, Get Well Soon, Family Freezer Fill, Microwave, Classic & Comfort, Award Winners, and limited-time 80s Revival bundles). All individual meals are priced from £6.95, with bundles offering additional savings. The company operates on a direct-to-consumer e-commerce model with optional subscription service (10% savings) and also serves wholesale and retail stockists including Waitrose and Booths.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- ByRuby Handmade Frozen Ready Meals
- Nice Rice (Wholegrain and Pure Basmati)
- Pre-made Meal Bundles
- Subscribe & Save
- ByRuby E-Gift Voucher
- Wholesale Supply via wholesale.byruby.co.uk
Quantifiable outcome
- Meals last over 3 months in freezer
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use ByRuby
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
ByRuby technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration2 records
Feature2 records
ByRuby partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- WaitrosecoreByRuby products are stocked in Waitrose supermarkets, a major UK premium grocery retailer. This provides retail distribution channel alongside their direct e-commerce sales.
- BoothscoreByRuby products are stocked in Booths supermarkets, a premium regional UK grocery chain known for quality food offerings.
- PluumominorPluumo provides sustainable feather-based insulation liners for ByRuby's packaging. The liners are compostable and can be reused or returned to Pluumo for recycling through a circular system.
- DPDcoreDPD is the delivery carrier for ByRuby orders. They provide temperature-controlled delivery with insulated packaging. Customers can track deliveries and select preferred delivery day (Wednesday, Thursday, Friday) with one-hour time slots.
- ShopifycoreShopify provides the e-commerce platform powering byruby.co.uk, including product listings, shopping cart, checkout, and subscription management through Recharge Payments integration.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
ByRuby competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Pasta Evangelists: Pasta Evangelists is a UK D2C frozen pasta meal brand with subscription delivery and a chef-led narrative. It competes with ByRuby in the frozen Italian-style meal category and shares the same direct-to-consumer subscription mechanic.
- Farmison & Co: Farmison & Co is a UK online butcher and prepared-meal brand focused on high-welfare British meat with D2C and select retail distribution. It overlaps with ByRuby's grass-fed British beef sourcing and premium DTC meal positioning.
- Gusto Organic: Gusto (formerly Gusto Organic) is a UK premium organic frozen ready meal brand sold direct and through retail. It competes with ByRuby for the same health-conscious, additive-free ready-meal shopper.
- Charlie Bigham's: Charlie Bigham's is a UK premium frozen ready meal brand with broad supermarket distribution. Its chef-prepared positioning and shared listings with ByRuby in Waitrose/Booths make it a direct competitive comparable.
- COOK: COOK is the UK's leading handmade frozen ready meal brand, sold via its own e-commerce site, subscription, and concessions inside premium grocery stores. ByRuby mirrors COOK's chef-driven, no-additives positioning and D2C-plus-retail model, making it the closest direct peer.
Broad incumbents
- HelloFresh: HelloFresh is the UK's largest meal-kit subscription service. While kits differ from ready meals, it competes with ByRuby for the same time-poor family/professional dinner occasion and serves as the broader convenience-meal incumbent.
- Mindful Chef: Mindful Chef is a UK premium recipe-box and prepared-meal brand with strong wellness and quality credentials. It is comparable to ByRuby as a premium DTC dinner-solution incumbent targeting similar health-aware, time-poor consumers.
- Quorn: Quorn is the UK's leading meat-alternative frozen brand with extensive grocery listings. It is comparable as a broad incumbent competing for frozen centre-of-plate occasions, including vegetarian options that overlap with ByRuby's meat-free range.
- Green Chef UK: Green Chef is a HelloFresh-owned premium recipe box with a strong organic/healthy positioning. It is comparable as a broader premium DTC dinner-solution incumbent competing for similar health-conscious UK subscribers.
Emerging players
- Deliciously Ella: Deliciously Ella has expanded from a wellness blog into a CPG range including frozen meals stocked in UK grocers. It is comparable as a newer, founder-led, plant-leaning frozen meal brand competing for the same premium shelf space.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
ByRuby social profiles
Digital presenceByRuby compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
ByRuby financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
ByRuby leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
ByRuby funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
ByRuby 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 ByRuby
What does ByRuby do?
ByRuby produces and sells handmade frozen ready meals prepared in small batches by a team of chefs, then immediately flash-frozen to lock in freshness with no additives or preservatives. The range of approximately 12 main dishes plus rice sides is sold directly to UK consumers through the byruby.co.uk Shopify website on a one-time or subscription basis, via themed pre-made bundles, and through retail partners Waitrose and Booths as well as a wholesale portal.
Is ByRuby a public or private company?
ByRuby is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was ByRuby founded?
ByRuby was founded in 2018. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is ByRuby based?
ByRuby is headquartered in London, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does ByRuby make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Direct Meal Sales are the primary driver. The others are subscription Meal Plans, gift Cards and wholesale/Retail Distribution.
Who are ByRuby's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Pasta Evangelists, Farmison & Co, Gusto Organic, Charlie Bigham's and COOK. Broad incumbents are HelloFresh, Mindful Chef, Quorn and Green Chef UK. Deliciously Ella is listed as an emerging player.
Does ByRuby have an API?
No public API is recorded for ByRuby.
What industry is ByRuby in?
ByRuby's product category is Frozen Ready Meals. Its primary akta.pro industry code is AFAKAHAA, Frozen prepared meals & entrées manufacturing, with a secondary code of AFAKACAH, Frozen Prepared Foods & Meals Manufacturing. Its NAICS code is 311412 and its SIC code is 2030.