The history of food delivery services dates back to its conception over sixty years. Since then, food delivery services have continued to follow the same basic principle to ensure that members of the community can enjoy a hot, tasty and enjoyable meal.
The first meal delivery services are believed to have started in London during the war. As a result of the Blitz, many Londoners lost their homes and their ability to cook for themselves. In response to this need, the WVS (Women’s Voluntary Service) produced meals and delivered them to people who had lost almost everything. This solidarity approach was carried out in various areas of the UK, where volunteers in the vicinity provided meals to wounded servicemen.
After the war, the first true food delivery service evolved in Hemel Hempstead in 1947. The recipients were still servicemen unable to cook their own meals, but instead of the vans used to transport meals today, these early services apparently used felt-lined strollers. and even straw to ensure food was served hot. Understandably, this type of service was labor intensive and required a wide network of volunteers, each with good culinary knowledge and skills. Today, the processes involved incorporate mass production principles.
In the UK, food delivery services operate in different ways. There are agency run programmes, usually run in conjunction with local councils to serve the local population. There are also private services that cater to those who would like the benefits of food delivery but do not necessarily meet all the criteria.
In the modern age there are also several different ways in which food is delivered. Some programs deliver meals that are cooked at a central location and then kept warm while they are delivered. Other programs cook the food, allow it to cool, and then cook the food before delivery in mobile units that cook and deliver the food. The latter type of program offers frozen meals that the recipient can heat up in the microwave or oven.
Today, there are a variety of different food delivery services for the elderly, disabled, and also for people with special dietary needs. It is this commitment to care and ensure that people eat well that has been a constant theme throughout the development of food delivery services.