We Spoke to the Guy Behind the Viral Facebook Group That Rates Meal Deals

As chefs figure out how to 3-D-print caviar, restaurants serve spaghetti on wooden boards, and The Daily Mail runs out of questions to ask Jamie Oliver, praise be that there is at least one constant in this ever-changing world of food and drink: the meal deal.

A sandwich, a packet of crisps, and a fizzy drink for around £3—you can't go wrong.

And now, the faithful midweek lunch and wallet-friendly train snack has been thrust into the social media spotlight, courtesy of Facebook group Meal Deal Talk.

The closed group has amassed more than 100,000 members since being set up just over three weeks ago. Calling itself a place to "review and rate meal deals from big chain supermarkets to lesser known corner shops around the UK," members post photos of their meal deal to be rated—usually out of ten—by fellow enthusiasts. Top tips: San Pellegrino will win classy points. Salads loses serious kudos.

We called up Meal Deal Talk founder Theo Edwards to find out more about the culinary beauty of supermarket lunch promotions and whether Lucozade should ever win out over Oasis.

MUNCHIES: Hi Theo, why did you set up Meal Deal Talk? Theo Edwards: I was just at home and I was eating my usual meal deal, and I thought to myself that I'd been having the same meal from Boots for awhile. I wondered what other people would choose. At first, it was more of a joke and people were just posting their combinations, and it's just grown rapidly.

And it was just your friends at first? At first, all my mates were in it and they just took the mick out of me, thinking it was such a silly idea.

Did you expect people to have so much interest in meal deals? I didn't expect it at all. It was just a spontaneous moment. I was close to deleting it at first because I thought it was a bad idea and people thought it was strange. But I left it up to see what would happen and here we are. I didn't realise there were so many meal deal enthusiasts!

It's really so people can have their say on other people's meals and give constructive criticism and give ideas on how to improve.

Because we all want to up our meal deal game. So, what makes the perfect meal deal? The one I was getting was the Boots triple sandwich (chicken and bacon, chicken and salad, and chicken with stuffing) with a Naked smoothie, and steak McCoys crisps. I just thought all the tastes complemented each other well and the smoothie washed it down nicely.

Sounds great. Do people ever overstep the line when rating others' meal deals? We've got more than 200 people banned now because when people can say what they like, you're bound to get people who leave negative feedback. People post death threats and racist comments which we don't tolerate. People like that get instantly banned.

No place for that in the world of meal deals. How often do you eat meal deals? I used to get them every couple of days but I usually take a packed lunch to work. But now I'm feeling so much more interested in it that I'm always thinking about what meal deal I can get next. I'm pretty much getting them every day now.

Has it broadened your horizons? Yeah, definitely. Before I only stuck with one, but now I've been going to different supermarkets as well. Little small cafes do them, too.

And what do you do when you're not rating meal deals? I have an admin role at an air-conditioning company and I'm training to become an engineer. When I'm not working I play football on the weekends and go to the gym. And eat meal deals!

Of course. Where do you think Meal Deal Talk will go from here? We've got a Twitter and Snapchat and working on a website at the moment. We're also working on merchandise. I've got a couple of graphic designers who are drawing up some designs. We've already got some t-shirt designs, but we're just taking it a step at a time. This is the last thing I expected when I set up the group.

Good luck and thanks for chatting with us, Theo!