A WhatsApp AI agent for meal prep, diet and healthy meal delivery businesses: answer menus, macros, allergens, plans and delivery days, take orders and changes, and keep the kitchen cooking
A meal prep business lives on a weekly rhythm: menu out, orders in by the cut-off, cook, deliver, repeat. The messages follow the rhythm too: what is on the menu, is it gluten-free, how many calories, when do you deliver to my area, can I skip next week. The kitchen cannot answer them and the cut-off does not move.
Quick answer
Give a WhatsApp AI agent this week's menu with macros and allergens per dish, plan options and prices, delivery days, areas and cut-offs, your skip, pause and change rules, payment methods and a dispatch note, and it answers in seconds, takes weekly selections and new orders, logs skips and changes, enforces the cut-off, gives delivery status, and hands over nutrition advice, refunds and complaints. ReplyKit runs this from $29 a month on your business number and website.
The weekly menu note
Menu week of {date}. Order by {day, time} for delivery {days}.
1. Grilled chicken quinoa bowl: 520 kcal, P 42 C 48 F 14. Contains: none of the top allergens. GF, DF.
2. Beef chilli with rice: 610 kcal, P 38 C 62 F 20. Contains: none. GF.
3. Tofu pad thai: 480 kcal, P 22 C 58 F 16. Contains: soy, peanuts. Vegan.
Plans: 5 meals {price}, 10 meals {price}, 15 meals {price}. Delivery: {areas} free; {areas} {fee}.
The agent answers macros and allergens exactly from it and nothing else, and hands over any allergen question the note does not settle. Replace the note weekly; two menus in the knowledge base produce wrong answers, as explained in how agents read menus.
Orders, selections and changes
- New customers: plan, dishes, delivery address and day, payment method; the order lands in your list.
- Existing customers: weekly selections by dish number, logged against their name for the kitchen sheet.
- Skips, pauses and address changes: logged with the effective week, or directed to the account page if you use one; the pattern is in subscription box businesses.
- After the cut-off, the agent says so and records the request for the following week.
- Delivery status from a dispatch note on the day: "Deliveries out 7 am to 1 pm; {area} first."
Nutrition questions
Customers ask whether a plan will help them lose weight, or what to eat with a condition. The agent gives the published macros and plan descriptions and nothing more; anything about a person's goals or health is handed over or, if you have a nutritionist, booked as a consultation. The boundary is the same one described in nutritionists and dietitians.
What the kitchen keeps
What stays with a person:
- Nutrition and health advice.
- Allergen questions the note does not settle, and severe-allergy customers.
- Refunds, missed deliveries and complaints.
- Custom plans and corporate orders.
- Cut-off exceptions.
Everything else the agent handles, and when it is unsure it says so and offers a human rather than guessing; see why the agent says it is not sure.
One honest note before the setup. ReplyKit connects to your number by QR pairing, the same linked-device mechanism as WhatsApp Web. It is live in minutes and needs no Meta approval, but Meta does not sanction automation this way, so a number can be restricted. We enforce limits of 30 replies an hour and 200 a day per number with a warm-up ramp for new numbers, reply to inbound messages only, and recommend a dedicated number rather than your main line. The full picture is in our ban guide.
Starter at $29 a month covers one number, one agent, one website assistant and 1,000 AI replies; Growth at $49 adds two more numbers, five agents and follow-up nudges; the 7-day free trial needs no card. Only the agent's own messages count. Pricing is in USD and the service works wherever WhatsApp does. What it costs in practice.
Frequently asked questions
Can the agent answer macros and allergens?
Yes, exactly from this week's menu note. Anything the note does not settle is handed over.
Does it take weekly selections?
Yes, logged by customer and dish for your kitchen sheet, and it enforces the cut-off.
Can customers skip or pause through it?
It logs the request with the effective week, or sends them to your account page.
Will it give diet advice?
No. It gives published nutrition facts and plan descriptions and hands over personal questions.
Can it tell customers when delivery arrives?
From a dispatch note you post on delivery days.
Menu questions and orders handled before the cut-off
Macros, allergens, selections, skips and delivery status, from one weekly note. 7-day free trial, no card.
Sources and further reading
- Harvard Business Review, The Short Life of Online Sales Leads (Oldroyd, McElheran, Elkington, 2011) · firms that responded within an hour were about seven times more likely to qualify the lead
- WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy · opt-in, opt-out and prohibited-use rules every business must follow
- ReplyKit, Will WhatsApp ban my number for automation? · our own account of the risk and the limits we enforce
ReplyKit is an independent product and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Meta or WhatsApp. This article is general guidance for running a small business, not legal, financial or regulatory advice.