Featuring: Adrian Symmer & Holly Esplin, Batch Kitchen
“Tsawwassen is a great place to live. And the positive feedback we've received about how much our meals have made life easier for other parents in the community has been so rewarding.”
A South Delta business they recommend: InForm the Institute for Wellness
Nobody understands the popular idiom “too much on your plate” quite like parents of young children. Balancing work, childcare, chores, and everything else life throws your way can feel impossible at times. Trained chef Adrian Symmer and HR professional Holly Esplin know the feeling; once they became a family of three, they quickly learned that cooking yummy, nutritious meals their son enjoyed only added to their overwhelm — and other parents in their community felt the same way. Batch Kitchen emerged as their answer to this common struggle. Officially launching in July 2025 after refining recipes with feedback from their child and friends, the new business provides hearty, crowdpleasing meals like cottage pie and mac & cheese with hidden veg portioned in frozen, single-serving “pucks” that can be microwaved and enjoyed within two minutes. Each recipe is made in small batches with no additives, and family-tested for taste. They’re starting with a small menu but plan to expand their offerings based on suggestions from their beloved South Delta network. Curious customers can order 100-gram pucks in singles or five-packs from their website for pick-up or local delivery every Thursday, or check out their booth at local South Delta markets like Rotisserie Kitchen’s Pop-Ups (check event page for dates!) and Southlands Farmers Markets, which typically take place every other Saturday from May until November.
What inspired you to start Batch Kitchen?
Holly: I went back to work when our son Miles was nine months old, and with both of us working, we realized how hard it was to manage full-time jobs and make dinners we felt good about feeding him, while still eating together as a family. As first-time parents, we didn’t realize how much of a full-time job it was to do daycare lunches, and breakfasts and dinners, and everything else on top of that. We started batch cooking and freezing meals at home to make life easier, and our friends — who are also parents and knew our pain — kept saying things like, “Please do this for us as well,” and “If you make meals, we’ll buy them!” We knew we were onto something, and that’s how the idea for Batch Kitchen started.
How did you come up with the menu?
Holly: Miles has been our tasting chef from day one, although as most parents know, toddler tastes aren’t always consistent. So while he was our chief taste tester, we also had friends and family try our meals and give feedback to make sure we were hitting the right flavour notes.
Adrian: Coming from a chef’s perspective, it was a lot of trial and error. Cooking for frozen meals is very different from restaurant cooking — you can’t just adjust on the spot if it needs more seasoning, for example. You have to standardize everything so it’s the same every time, reheats well, and still tastes like homemade food. We want our meals to be tasty for both kids and adults, and also ensure people feel good about what they’re feeding their kids. That’s why we find ways to add in extra veggies and protein, and never use ingredients that you wouldn’t find in your own kitchen.
Holly: Miles has been our tasting chef from day one, although as most parents know, toddler tastes aren’t always consistent. So while he was our chief taste tester, we also had friends and family try our meals and give feedback to make sure we were hitting the right flavour notes.
Adrian: Coming from a chef’s perspective, it was a lot of trial and error. Cooking for frozen meals is very different from restaurant cooking — you can’t just adjust on the spot if it needs more seasoning, for example. You have to standardize everything so it’s the same every time, reheats well, and still tastes like homemade food. We want our meals to be tasty for both kids and adults, and also ensure people feel good about what they’re feeding their kids. That’s why we find ways to add in extra veggies and protein, and never use ingredients that you wouldn’t find in your own kitchen.
What was the process like from initial idea to official launch?
Holly: We launched in July 2025, so it’s all still very new. We went through Fraser Health for food safety permits, covered the legal and insurance piece, and then we had to find a commercial kitchen. We’re now working out of Rotisserie Kitchen in Delta, which was important to us because it’s close by and community-based, plus, as a small business ourselves, we wanted to support local. Everyone there has been really supportive and great about sharing advice. There’s a strong sense of community.
What has been the most rewarding part of running Batch Kitchen so far?
Holly: For me personally, it’s been the positive feedback we've received around just how much it's made life easier for parents, even in this short amount of time. We've done a couple local markets and had a few people come back and say, "It’s made those nights when there’s too much on our plates so much easier." A customer reached out to say she had a really hard day, and being able to just reach into the freezer and grab something quick for the kids was a lifesaver — and that's all we ever wanted from this experience.
What do you love most about living and working in South Delta?
Holly: We moved here six years ago from Chile and never left, which says a lot about how much we love it. There’s the beautiful beaches and being close to everything, but more than that, it’s the community. After we had Miles, it unlocked a new level of connection and community-building.
Adrian: It’s a great place to raise a family — safe, welcoming, and with so much to offer. We love weekends at Boundary Bay and have family there. We just feel lucky to live here.
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