"Chef-prepared" sounds better than "factory-made." But is it actually better? And what do these terms even mean?
As a company that makes chef-prepared meals, we have an obvious bias. But we also have insider knowledge about how food production actually works. Here's an honest breakdown.
Defining the Terms
Factory/industrial production: Large-scale facilities producing thousands of identical meals per day. Highly automated, with machines handling most processes. Recipes designed by food scientists to optimise for shelf-stability, consistency, and cost.
Chef-prepared: Smaller-scale production with trained chefs making decisions about cooking techniques, seasoning, and presentation. More hands-on at critical stages. Recipes developed for flavour first.
🔑 The Core Difference
The scale difference matters less than you'd think. What matters is whether recipes are designed for flavour or for manufacturing efficiency.
What Factory Production Optimises For
Industrial food manufacturing isn't evil - it's just optimising for different goals:
- Consistency - Every unit tastes identical. Important for brand recognition
- Shelf stability - Longer life means less waste and wider distribution
- Cost efficiency - High volume, low cost per unit
- Safety - Standardised processes reduce contamination risk
These aren't bad goals. But achieving them sometimes means compromising on flavour. A sauce that needs 3-month shelf life requires different formulation than one made to be eaten within days.
What Chef-Prepared Production Optimises For
👨🍳 Chef-Prepared Approach
- Recipes start with "what tastes best"
- Adjustments made by trained palates
- Smaller batches allow for seasonal ingredients
- Techniques closer to restaurant cooking
- Higher cost per meal
🏭 Industrial Approach
- Recipes start with "what scales"
- Adjustments made by process engineers
- Standardised ingredients year-round
- Techniques optimised for speed
- Lower cost per meal
"In a factory, you're working backwards from constraints: this equipment, this shelf life, this cost target. In a chef's kitchen, you start with 'how do I make this delicious?' and figure out the rest after."
The People Behind the Food
There's another difference that rarely gets discussed: the people making your food.
Factory food production typically relies on assembly line workers - often on minimum wage, working in industrial conditions, repeating the same task hundreds of times per shift. It's labour, not craft. The work is designed to be interchangeable - anyone can be trained to operate the machinery.
Independent chefs have a different relationship with their work. They've trained in kitchens, developed their palates, and take professional pride in what they create. The job allows for creativity, flexibility, and genuine craft. When a chef makes your meal, they're doing work they chose because they love food - not because it was the only job available.
This isn't about judging factory workers - it's about recognising that the working conditions behind your food matter. Happy, skilled people who care about cooking tend to make better food than workers grinding through shifts on a production line.
The Ingredients Question
Factory production often uses ingredients you won't find in a home kitchen:
- Modified starches - Keep sauces stable through temperature changes
- Flavour enhancers - Boost taste without adding cost
- Emulsifiers - Prevent separation during storage
- Preservatives - Extend shelf life significantly
None of these are necessarily unhealthy (that's a different conversation). But they're signs that the food was designed for manufacturing rather than eating.
Chef-prepared meals can use simpler ingredient lists because they don't need to survive months on supermarket shelves. Fresh herbs instead of dried extracts. Butter instead of shelf-stable fat blends. Real wine reductions instead of flavourings.
When Factory Food Makes Sense
We're not going to pretend all factory food is inferior. It's not:
- Staples - Bread, pasta, tinned tomatoes work brilliantly at scale
- Emergency meals - Having shelf-stable options for busy nights is practical
- Budget constraints - Industrial efficiency keeps prices accessible
- Consistency needs - Some people genuinely prefer predictable flavours
The problem isn't factory food existing. It's when everything becomes factory food - when the industrial version displaces cooking entirely.
What to Look For
If quality matters for a particular meal, check:
- Ingredient list length - More than 15-20 ingredients often signals industrial formulation
- Recognisable ingredients - Could you buy everything listed at a normal shop?
- Shelf life - Very long life usually means more processing
- Price - Genuine chef-prepared food costs more (labour isn't free)
- Provenance - Can you find out who actually made it and where?
💡 The Bottom Line
"Chef-prepared" isn't automatically better. But it usually means the food was designed primarily to taste good, not primarily to be manufactured efficiently. That difference shows.