What you need to know:

• Marketing boss for ready made meals business My Muscle Chef, Clementine Churchill, has exited the business.
• She joins burgeoning hospitality start-up me&u as its Head of Marketing.
• The business, backed by the likes of Neil Perry, Robbie Cooke, Will Easton and Jason Pellegrino, has signed deals with Merivale and Woolies in recent months and last year launched in international markets including the UK.

Clementine Churchill, marketing boss for ready meal brand My Muscle Chef, has exited the business to join surging hospitality start-up me&u.

A former member of the Arnott's marketing team, Churchill joined My Muscle Chef in 2018, helping to lead the business through 700 per cent growth and significant change, including the addition of its first full-time media agency, locking in deals with Google and launching the brand's first above the line campaign.

"After an amazing time at My Muscle Chef, I am excited to share that I have joined the team at me&u, helping transition the world to a smarter menu and create amazing customer experiences. I am looking forward to working with such a passionate team who are committed to building a better future for hospitality and leading the industry in this space," said Churchill.

My Muscle Chef is currently in the final stages of the recruitment process and is set to announce Churchill’s replacement in the coming weeks. My Muscle Chef's CCO Nick Love said Churchill had been instrumental in driving the firm's rapid growth.

“Clementine has played a pivotal role in the business’ exceptional growth and made a great impact in establishing the marketing team from our roots as a local start-up right through to the nationwide footprint we have today," he told Mi3. 

"We thank Clementine for her hard work and contribution to the business and wish her all the best in her new role.”

After helping My Muscle Chef capitalise on the Covid pre-prepped meal boom, where it at times grew 10 per cent week on week, Churchill is joins another rapid growth business that is capitalising upon Covid-related consumer behavioural changes.

The me&u business was launched in 2018 by Stevan Premutico, founder of now Trip Advisor-owned online booking platform Dimmi. It counts the likes of Facebook ANZ boss Will Easton, Domain CEO Jason Pellegrino, Afterpay's Cliff Rosenberg and Tyro's Robbie Cooke amongst its advisors and investors.

It has also signed major dining partners such as Merivale, Rockpool, Clubs NSW and Woolworths' ALH Group and offers contactless ordering and payment for venues via the use of a QR Code or a physical phone tap device.

After an $8m investment by Merivale owner Justin Hemmes and payments business Tyro in December 2019, the business took off as a result of Covid restrictions in Australia as businesses implemented social distancing measures.

In April, it added a further 330 venues to its portfolio as part of its deal with ALH Group, Australia’s largest hospitality firm.

The business is now beefing up its tech capabilities, tying up with sports, leisure and hospitality SaaS technology provider MSL Solutions. It now touts machine learning capabilities such as Quick Sell, an automated feature that offers add-ons based on order trends.

According to me&u's data collection and analysis, there has been a 14 per cent increase in orders in suburban venues since the start of the pandemic, with the average spend up 8 per cent YoY. The data also suggests that pubs are now at 80 per cent of their pre-Covid patronage levels.

Meanwhile, the business is now active in the UK, and has global ambitions.