My Foodie Box contests pick-up ban

Meal kit business My Foodie Box has had a win in the State Administrative Tribunal to strike down the City of Bayswater’s order to stop operating from its Maylands headquarters.

My Foodie Box, founded by Pitcher Partners chairman Bryan Hughes and his wife Mai Hughes, started operating from a property on Foundry Street in January 2021.

The business packages ingredients and recipe cards in meal kit boxes, assembled at the Maylands property, before the kits are delivered to customers’ homes.

Customers initially had the option to collect their meal kit from the Maylands site to avoid paying a delivery fee, but the city issued a direction in March for My Foodie Box to stop operating from the location within 28 days.

An application was lodged with the SAT to review the city's order in April.

In a decision delivered earlier this week, SAT senior member Stephen Willey found that the city had taken an overly “narrow and pernickety” approach in applying its own regulation to My Foodie Box.

The city has alleged that My Foodie Box’s operations of repackaging food items for sale and distribution were unauthorised under its local planning scheme.

In January 2022, after being told to stop having customers collect online purchases of the meal kits from its Maylands site, My Foodie Box complied but was given a direction to cease operating from the location in March.

The Maylands premises is zoned as ‘general industry’ under the local planning scheme and the city claims the business being conducted was not an ‘industry’.

“Bearing these principles in mind, I must say this case is, at one level, somewhat novel,” Mr Willey said in his decision.

“The [city’s] case appears to be that this use is, in effect, not 'industrial' enough to be an 'industry' use such that approval is not required.

“As a result, because it is not industrial enough, it requires approval whereas a more standard industry, which involves more overt processing or manufacturing procedures (and amenity impacts), would be acceptable without the need for development approval.”

Mr Willey said there was no basis to use his power to affirm the city’s direction.

In a social media post in October, My Foodie Box claimed the city was preventing customers from picking up their boxes on site.

"We have been trying to resolve this issue but City of Bayswater hasn’t been very cooperative so far," it said.

My Foodie Box listed on the ASX in January last year.