Canberra’s GMD makes it easy to eat well

Posted on 18 February, 2020

In theory, meal prepping is great.

It means you’ve got food ready to grab, highly increasing your chances of eating something your body will appreciate, and decreasing the chance of spending money on eating out. A dedicated kitchen session on the weekend, and your week is sorted.

But, if you’re anything like me, this is never actually how it goes down. Things work really well for the first day, and maybe even the second on a good week.

Come the third day, the sight of the same meal AGAIN is enough to drive you straight towards anything edible that pops up in your line of sight. Not to mention the food wastage if the remaining meals never actually get eaten.

But I’ve finally figured out meal-prep nirvana. It’s a world where I get to enjoy different dishes every single day—even every single meal if I like—and there’s no food wastage, no meal boredom, and I only have to exert very, very minimal effort.

It’s called getting someone else to make them for you.

Based in Canberra, GMD makes fresh, healthy and delicious ready-to-eat meals, that can be delivered right to your door. They offer one of the largest ranges of dishes in the country, with almost 50 main meal options, plus breakfast dishes and snacks.

And these are no ordinary meals, or the sort you’d expect to find in the premade section at the shops. They’re fresh—not frozen—and are beautifully presented, gourmet dishes, starting from just $8 each.

For one meal you could be tucking into a barramundi fillet, coated in a delicious parmesan and herb crumb, oven-baked and served with pumpkin, zucchini and green peas, and topped with a garlic cream sauce.

For the next it might be pumpkin and coconut chicken with chickpeas, quinoa and a zesty honey mustard dressing. Then there are the nostalgic or more comforting dishes, done well, like spaghetti bolognese, rosemary roast chicken and vege, or butter chicken.

And it’s all cooked right here in Canberra.

The business is run by locals Hesh Sandi, Mick Tonna, and Mitch Flaherty, who say their goal is to make food that fuels every kind of lifestyle.

“Our customer base is so diverse,” says Hesh. “They include everyone from elite athletes, through to retirees. We even provide the fresh meals for Meals on Wheels in the ACT. So we have a very big mix.”

They’ve been keeping Canberrans well-fed for years now—you may have previously known them as Gym Meals Direct—and now they’re expanded their range even more to offer something for everyone, no matter their dietary requirements or eating preferences.

Their range boasts nut-free, dairy-free, gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan options, as well as specific meal plans, like keto, low carb and low calorie. All of the meals are also available in either small or large sizes.

Got a goal in mind? You can order one of their carefully tailored meal plans, or you’re free to construct your own menu for the week.

If you’re someone who gets bored easily, they’re even constantly releasing new meals, on average one a week, and customers get to vote on whether or not it makes the cut in the permanent menu.

And absolutely everything is done in-house. The meals are all designed and cooked by GMD’s talented chefs onsite at their Fyshwick office. The design and photography is also done on-site, plus they only use local produce suppliers and have their own team of delivery drivers.

The guys are all passionate Canberrans, and also love giving back to the community. Each week, they get the kitchen to make some extra meals which are donated to those in need via OzHarvest—last year they donated over half a tonne of fresh meals.

Ordering is simple and all done online through their system which ensures no food wastage. Orders close Thursday night and meals can be picked up the following Sunday at their warehouse in Fyshwick, or delivered to your door on Monday.

And you don’t have to worry about the packaging—the meal trays and boxes are both recyclable while the wool lining is fully biodegradable and the gel ice packs are good for the environment. If you return the box, lining and gel packs each week they will also be reused.

And yes, the GMD team does eat the meals. They all count the Chicken Pad Thai as one of the highlights, but Mitch also says, “my favourite is the Cottage Pie. I’m a bit of a sucker for that old English home-style meal”.

Hesh prefers the higher carb meals, like the Spaghetti Bolognese, while Mick says he could eat the dairy-free Coconut Curry, “week in, week out. I never get sick of it”.

To us? They all look pretty darn good. Especially when we don’t have to make them ourselves.

WANT 15% OFF YOUR NEXT ORDER?

Use the code hercanberra at the checkout for 15% off all meals* in the main GMD menu.

the essentials

What: Fresh, healthy and delicious ready-to-eat meals from GMD
Where: Available for delivery all over Canberra, Queanbeyan and the surrounding areas.
Orders: gmdcanberra.com.au

*Can only be used once per customer. 

This editorial was created in partnership with GMD. For more information on sponsored partnerships, click here.