Eat Balanced, the company that launched the world’s first nutritionally balanced pizza, has been recognised as one of the Fifty Fastest-Growing Businesses in Scotland by the UK Fast Growth Index 2025, a programme that identifies and celebrates the most dynamic and rapidly expanding companies across the UK.
Founded by Scottish entrepreneur Donnie Maclean, Eat Balanced first made headlines in 2012 when it launched its pioneering healthy pizza range in UK supermarkets. After early success and a challenging period that saw the business reinvent itself, the company pivoted to focus on school meals — creating healthier versions of popular dishes through its innovative “Health by Stealth” approach.
Today, Eat Balanced supplies over eight million nutritionally balanced meals every year through schools, family restaurants and theme parks across the UK, helping children eat better without even realising it.
The UK Fast Growth Index identifies the fifty fastest-growing companies in seven regions and nations — London, the Midlands and East of England, the North of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, the South of England, and Wales. This year, the 350 firms listed increased their overall turnover by £7.7 billion between 2022 and 2024 — an impressive growth rate of 182%.
Professor Dylan Jones-Evans OBE, Founder of the UK Fast Growth Index, said:
“The UK Fast Growth Index demonstrates how a small number of fast-growing firms such as Eat Balanced can make a substantial contribution to the UK’s economic landscape, providing real examples of how innovation, enterprise and sheer hard work can make a real difference in all sectors — from construction to financial services to technology.”
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Donnie Maclean, Founder and CEO of Eat Balanced, said:
“This recognition means a lot because our journey has been anything but straightforward. We’ve been through the highs of launching in supermarkets, the lows of nearly losing everything, and then the hard work of rebuilding from scratch. But through it all, our mission has stayed the same — to make healthy eating accessible to everyone. The fact that we’re now helping millions of children eat better every day is the achievement I’m most proud of.”
Eat Balanced’s growth reflects a rising demand for nutritious and accessible food options in the UK’s public sector — and the company’s success has been driven by its unique “Health by Stealth” philosophy: creating meals that are both scientifically balanced and genuinely loved by kids.
