Before · Aug 2024
After · Today
The empty kitchen in August 2024, with the extraction hood still in its crate, and our kitchen floor today.
Our Story
From A Flip Chart To Our Own Kitchen
How a family business went from writing down one sentence to cooking for customers across South Africa.
How it started
Where It All Began
Lean Living was started by two students at North-West University (NWU). It did well from the start, and Roline joined us after she was retrenched from the mines. From day one we put our trust and faith in the Lord, who has helped and guided us to where we are today.
In the beginning a supplier cooked our meals for us. We sold everything, and they just couldn't keep up with the demand, so we had to close for about four to five months.
We started again with a new supplier and passed R1,000,000 in sales for the first time. Then we had to close a second time, and once again we grew past that amount.
But the market and the margins were just too tough. We were doing more than 15,000 meals and still not making a good enough profit, so we decided to start our own kitchen.
Here we are today, in our own kitchen of over 800 m², with a fantastic team that we love and support. We thank the Lord for how He has guided us, and we look forward to doing the Lord Jesus Christ's good work.
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October 2021
It Started With A Why
Around a flip chart, we wrote down why Lean Living exists:
“We offer solutions to people seeking a healthy, sustainable & quality lifestyle.”
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November 2022
The Plan On Paper
We filled flip charts with what should come next. Most of it is on our shelves today.
- Supplements, our own range
- A vegetarian range, now the Vegetarian Package
- A low-carb package, now the Low Carb Package
- A custom package, now Build Your Own
November 2022: the supplement plan 
September 2024: on the table at our opening -
July 2024
An Empty Building
We found our home at GM Industrial Park on Kempston Road. On 9 July 2024 it was rubble, old ceilings and blue lino.
74 daysfrom this photo to opening day
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August–September 2024
Building The Kitchen
Walls went up, then cold rooms, a new floor, the extraction hood and the ovens.
9 August 2024: standing in the stripped-out space 
29 August: the equipment arrives 
4 September: the ovens go in -
21 September 2024
Opening Day
We cut the ribbon on our own kitchen. Our families, friends and kitchen team toured the kitchen, tasted the food and cut the cake.
In numbers
How Far We've Come
223
orders in 2021
74 days
from an empty building to opening day
2,000+
orders in one month, January 2026
Before and after
From Empty Walls To Our Kitchen
Before · Aug 2024
After · Today
Before · Sept 2024
After · Today
The first ovens going in, September 2024, and our oven line today.
Our packaging
From Plain Tubs To Skin Packs
How the way we pack your meals has changed.
Where we started
No Sleeve At All
Meals went out in clear takeaway tubs with a sauce pot, packed into cooler boxes.
Our first sleeves
One Sleeve For Every Meal
Universal sleeves: one design for every meal. Some were brown paper with our logo; others added the meal's photo and tick boxes for your plan. Meals sat on a thin black plate.
Today
Skin-Packed, Ready To Eat From
Our meals are now skin-packed in a deeper tray you can eat straight from, each with its own printed sleeve showing protein, carbs, fat and calories.
Busy days
Outgrowing Our Space
From a few cooler boxes to full courier trucks. On our busiest days, our space is already getting too small.
Today
Where We Are Now
Lean Living is a family business, led by directors Steffen, Roline and Thys.
Every meal is cooked, portioned and frozen in our own kitchen, then delivered frozen across South Africa.
Meals for four goalsLow CarbVegetarianBuild Your OwnSupplementsSauces
Steffen, Roline & Thys, and our families
