Going from studying for his A Levels to launching a business that ships healthy meals across the UK has seen Ioan Dillon achieve so much and he’s not even 25 yet
Ioan Dillon, director of Lean Kitchen(Image: WalesOnline/Rob Browne)
At 24 most people are still figuring life out, having fun and, let’s be honest, making a few mistakes along the way – but for one Welsh twentysomething, going against the stereotype has seen him forgo the trappings of youth and create a successful business with customers around the UK.
Ioan Dillon is the man behind Llanelli’s Lean Kitchen. The businessman started the company behind fresh, healthy ready-meals six years ago when he was still in the midst of his A Levels, which he had to be convinced to stay on and finish, such was his determination and belief that his idea would work.
Six years on Ioan and his team are preparing to upgrade their kitchen to take their meal output from 5,000 units a week to 10,000. It’s a big reinvestment into the business – projected revenue for 2026 tops a million pound, Ioan says – and into him and his staff.
Where does this entreprenurial oomph come from?
“I was doing my A Levels Monday to Friday, and then as soon as the bell would go on the Friday, I’d go straight up to our suppliers in Carmarthen, Castell Howell,” said Ioan, who added that he’d always wanted to be an entreprenuer. “I’d pick up the stock, I’d take it back to the kitchen, I’d prepare it on a Saturday, cook it on a Sunday, and then it was a repeat.
“But my parents own a car dealership in Carmarthen, so I’ve always grown up with my father and my stepmother speaking about business. I’ve been aware since I was a child basically, that it’s 24/7 if you have your own business. We’d be watching TV in the evenings in the living room and they’d be speaking about work the next day, because obviously they’re in business together.
“And it’s quite similar now with myself and my brother Osian, as he’s come into the business as well as manager – he’s given me back some work-life balance.
“So you can imagine what Christmas Day is like in our house – me and my brother talking about Lean Kitchen, my parents talking about the car dealership. So I’ve been surrounded by it from a young age, being exposed to what it takes. “
Deliveries in the early days(Image: Lean Kitchen)
Lean Kitchen started out as a pre-prepared meal provider aiming to take the constant decision-making out of having something healthy, but tasty for dinner. They are made in-house by Lean Kitchen’s chefs and are calorie-controlled and protein-packed, you can also choose what sort of programme you want to follow, low-carb, calorie controlled or balanced diet.
In the early days, Ioan was doing the cooking, his mother, Angharad, was doing the washing up, while his dad, Walter was delivering the meals. For the latest restaurant news and reviews, sign up to our food and drink newsletter here
After completing his A-levels at Ysgol Y Strade – in which Ioan got three As in PE, business and ICT – Ioan took the business up a notch and opened a cafe. When he started getting excess stock of his meals left at the end of the day he took them to a nearby service station and that’s where Lean Kitchen’s popularity went up a notch again.
“We couldn’t fill the service station shop up quick enough, people were buying them so quickly off the shelves, and I thought, ‘this is the route I want to go down. I want to close the cafe and go business-to-business’, because, you know, I could be stood in the cafe for an hour and nobody would come in, and then I could have 10 people coming in at once.
“It’s quite stressful to manage stock, whereas now, we go in, we know exactly what we’re cooking. We’re cooking 5,000 meals, once they’re cooked, we go home, they go in the fridge and we’re done. The concept is so much better, and we deliver them then the next day. It was probably the biggest decision in the six years, closing the cafe and going business-to-business, but definitely the best decision I’ve made.”
Lean Kitchen’s meals are made fresh every week
Ioan’s six years in business saw him have to give up his rugby playing, in the early days at least, and sacrifice many other things like nights out with his mates and holidays. But he doesn’t regret the long hours and laser focus on making the business the best it can be.
“From when I was 18, people were saying, ‘Oh, you should be out enjoying yourself’. Well, I just think, I’ve enjoyed the process as well. It’s not like I’ve tortured myself, I’ve enjoyed the journey. So, I wouldn’t even really see it as punishment.
“Of course I’ve missed out on some things, but, you know now, I’m in a position where I can go on holidays and there’s income still coming in. I think there’s a huge misconception that you need to enjoy your early 20s and that it’s the only time you can enjoy life. I’ll probably do my life a bit backwards where I’m hoping to retire a bit earlier. There’s no way, with perhaps a mortgage, kids, I could have put everything into the business.”
There are lots of combinations and choices to customise your package
Taking on his brother, Osian, who used to play for Bristol Rovers, has definitely seen a step change in Ioan’s all encompassing business-led lifestyle, he’s even returned to playing rugby, for local team Kidwelly, where one lucky player gets a week’s worth of Lean Kitchen meals for trainer of the month.
“The work-life balance has definitely improved!” said Ioan, who is still the first port of call for all customer enquiries to Lean Kitchen. “It wasn’t sustainable before. I remember doing like six days on the bounce, getting into work by 3.30 in the morning, and I thought, ‘This isn’t sustainable, the hours I’m putting in’. So we employed more staff. But I think you’ve got to really go through that bit to grow.”
The satisfaction for Ioan comes, not just from being in charge of a successful business. The feedback from happy customers and being able to inspire the next generation of local kids is a big part of it too.
“I’ve done a few talks in schools as well, and a couple of years ago I was in their exact position. At one for a GCSE class, just recently and got to say that ‘three years ago I was you, I was sat in that desk, not really knowing what I wanted to do, and I just went for it. So if you’ve got something you’re passionate about, just go for it.'”
But he loves it, too, when customers get in touch. “I had two messages last week, someone saying our meals have helped him go back playing football .and somebody else has said his cholesterol levels have dropped by 70%. And he’s lost more than four stone as well since training with us.
“So, when he sent me the before and after photos, I saw them and I thought, ‘This is exactly why I do what I do.’ Because at the end of the day, we are helping people, and it’s sometimes hard to forget that when you get caught up in how busy we are and the stress of everything, but then when you zoom out, and you know, you put a different perspective, all these people trust us with their nutrition, and they’re all losing weight, or we’re helping them achieve their goals.”
The company has gained plenty of awards including Scale Up company at the Wales Food & Drink Awards(Image: WalesOnline/Rob Browne)
But the big question is, is Ioan fridge at home full of Lean Kitchen after a week of making the meals?
“My brother lives off them,” he laughed, “he’s probably more the advert of Lean Kitchen than, than I am, he’s a bit leaner than me!
“My parents, they eat them almost every dayI ‘ll have a couple of meals and a couple of wraps every week without fail, but people, when they, when people see me in the rugby club, for example, and they see me eating the food after the game, I’ll always get comments, even from the other team, ‘That’s not Lean Kitchen!’
“I’m not even allowed to go to McDonald’s without someone seeing me driving through it!”
Aside of the next expansion in Lean Kitchen will Ioan be cooking up any more entrepreneurial projects? Not anytime soon, he concludes: “I always think stick to what you know. I’ve had plenty of opportunities to go into other businesses and things like that, but I’m still just as hungry to make healthy eating as successful as possible now as I was six years ago.
“That is the main goal of this, to make healthy eating as convenient as possible, as successful as possible, for people out on the road and busy.”