By business · Food and drink

Instagram auto-replies for meal prep services

A meal prep customer wants to know the menu, the portion, the delivery day and how to skip next week. Comment-to-DM answers those before the Thursday order cut-off, when your inbox is busiest. Below are the words, four set-ups, freebies and the claims to check.

Updated 6 October 2026

Start free See the set-ups

Comment words for meal prep services

Ask people to comment one word in your caption or video. Each word sends something different.

MENU: This week's dishes with the portion weight, the protein and the diet each one fits, and the day the menu closes for the next delivery.
MACROS: A per-meal table of calories, protein, carbohydrate and fat for the current menu, with a plain note on how the figures were worked out.
TRIAL: A trial week or a starter box: the number of meals, the price, what the first delivery includes and how to move on to a regular plan.
PAUSE: How to skip a week, change a delivery day or stop a plan: the cut-off time, and what happens to a box already being cooked.
ZONE: The delivery postcodes or areas, which weekday each is delivered on and the time window, with the fee for the edge of the area.
KETO: The low-carbohydrate meals on this week's menu, the days they are cooked and how to swap a meal on a standard plan.
COMPANY: Meals for a workplace or sports team: the minimum, the labelling, the delivery to one address and how invoicing works.
CONTAINERS: How the packaging works: the type of tub, whether to rinse and return it, how to reheat and how many days a meal keeps in the fridge.

4 set-ups to try

Each one shows the conversation it creates. After a comment, the first DM is plain text, as Meta requires, and the link follows once they answer.

Weekly menu from a Sunday cooking Reel
Someone comments on your post
MENU
Public reply under their comment
This week's menu is in your DMs 🍗
First DM (plain text)
Thanks for stopping by the kitchen. How many meals a week would you want, and is there a food you avoid completely? Reply and I'll send the menu, the portions and the cut-off day.Yes pleaseThis week's meal planSee the menu
A meal prep plan is priced by the number of meals, so that number comes first. The avoid answer shows which dishes to show and which to leave out, and it flags anyone who needs a person to read the allergen list.
Macro questions from a nutrition-card Story
Replied to your story
MACROSGood question. Which of the meals are you looking at, and is there a protein target you try to hit in a day? Reply and I'll send the full table for the menu and how we calculate it.Macros for every mealSee the table
People who ask about macros usually compare against a target. Naming the meal and the target shows whether to send the whole table or one dish, and the story reply means they started the conversation.
Trial boxes from a first-week post
Someone comments on your post
TRIAL
Public reply under their comment
Trial week details are in your DMs 📦
First DM (plain text)
Great, a trial is the easiest way to see if it suits. Which postcode would the box go to, and which day suits you best for it to arrive? Reply and I'll send the options and the price.Yes pleaseStart with a trial boxChoose a trial
A postcode shows right away whether you deliver to them, and your delivery days are fixed. A customer who finds out they are out of range after loving the menu is a lost one, so the area check comes before the pitch.
Pause and skip requests from subscribers
PAUSENo problem. Is this for one week or longer, and which delivery day is it for? Reply and I'll send how to skip or change it and the time you need to tell us by.Skip, pause or change a weekHow to pause
Most weekend messages from subscribers are about a trip or a busy week. The cut-off is the whole answer, and a clear reply keeps a customer who would otherwise cancel because skipping felt hard.

Freebies worth commenting for

A sample week of meals with the portion sizes, so people see exactly what arrives in the box
A reheating guide by dish: microwave, oven or air fryer, and how long each takes
A fridge and freezer guide saying how many days each meal keeps and which ones freeze well
A grocery-free week planner for people who want to see how meal prep fits around work shifts
A guide to reading the macros table, with what the numbers on each tub mean
A trial-week discount code for people who join the email list
A vegetarian and high-protein menu preview before it opens for ordering
A starter checklist for a team lunch programme, with the headcount, delivery day and invoice details you need

What customers ask a meal prep service in DMs

The message pattern follows the weekly cycle: browsing early in the week, ordering before the cut-off, and a change or a complaint after the box arrives. Menu, area and cut-off answers can go out automatically. Nutrition advice and medical needs belong to a person, and so does anything that is a fault in a box.

They ask	Send automatically	Handle personally when
What's on this week?	The MENU reply with the closing day	A dish has been swapped after the menu was sent
How many calories is the chicken bowl?	The MACROS table	They ask what to eat to meet a medical goal
Do you deliver to my street?	The ZONE list and delivery days	The address is at the edge of your range
Can I skip next week?	The PAUSE steps and the cut-off	The box is already packed
Is there a keto plan?	The KETO list for the week	They need a plan for a health condition
Can you do lunches for our team?	The COMPANY pack	The headcount is large or the date is soon

Tip: State the cut-off as a day and a time with a time zone, not “early in the week”. Meal prep runs on the date the kitchen buys food, so a late change costs real money.

Posts that earn comments in the prep kitchen

A shot of two hundred identical tubs being sealed on a Sunday, with MENU for the week's dishes.
A single plate, weighed on a scale and shown from above, with MACROS for the full table.
A before and after of a fridge shelf lined with labelled lunches, with TRIAL for a starter box.
A Story with a map of delivery days by area, and ZONE as the reply word.
A subscriber's fridge door, posted with permission, with a word for what a week of their plan looks like.
A Story the evening before the cut-off, with PAUSE for people who need to skip.

Interest peaks in the first weeks of January, before summer, and after any holiday, as people reset their routines. Mid-week demand dips when people travel, so the PAUSE message pays for itself in those weeks. Make the first reply name the next delivery date so it is never out of date.

Running the weekly cycle

The comment starts a DM asking for the meals per week, a postcode or the length of a pause.
The card opens the matching page: menu, trial box or skip form. DMFast does not take subscription payments, change a plan or read your order system, so those happen where you run them today.
Use email capture for the sample week and the macros guide. Export the emails as a CSV and send the new menu to them each Wednesday.
Switch on the reminder so a person who asked about a trial and went quiet gets one nudge before the cut-off.

Selling in India? The DMFast store can sell a digital product such as a weekly planner, give a free guide in exchange for an email and a phone number, and take paid or free 1-on-1 bookings, for example a menu planning call. Payments go through Razorpay and DMFast takes no fee on sales. The meal boxes themselves are sold on your own ordering page.

Claims and rules to check

Nutrition figures. If you show calories and macros, make sure they come from a method you can explain, and say when they are estimates. Wrong numbers matter to people who track them closely.
Health promises. Do not promise weight loss, muscle gain or a medical effect. Results depend on the person, and many countries restrict claims on food products.
Allergens. Many places require allergen information on prepared food and on labels. Keep yours current, and let a person confirm any specific need.
Special diets. Plans for diabetes, kidney disease or eating disorders need a professional, not a template. Say so, and point people to their own doctor or dietitian.
Food safety and labelling. Rules on storage, date marks and registration for food businesses differ by country. Check what applies to a kitchen that cooks to order and delivers.
Message limits. A comment gets a single private reply, inside 7 days. Instagram allows 750 such replies an hour per account, and DMFast stays under 700.

Messages to copy

Questions people ask

Can it set up a subscription or take payment for a weekly plan?

No. DMFast does not take subscription payments or change a plan. The card opens the page where you already sign people up, and the first message asks how many meals and which postcode. In India, the store can take payment for digital products and bookings.

Should it answer calorie and macro questions?

It can send a table you wrote, with the note on how the figures were worked out. It should not give advice on what someone should eat. AI replies, on the Growth and Business plans, use only your information, so keep targets and health advice out of it.

Customers message to skip a week at the last minute. Can it handle that?

It can send the PAUSE steps and the cut-off time at any hour, so most people know whether they are in time. A person decides on a late request, because the food may already be bought or cooked. Say clearly what happens to a box past the cut-off.

I post a new menu every Sunday. Do I need to rebuild the replies?

No. Keep the same MENU word and change the message or the card it sends each week. You can also attach it to the Sunday post. An older comment can still be answered within 7 days, so say when the menu closes.

Does it work if my customers find me on a Facebook Page?

Yes. Comments on Page posts and Messenger messages can get the same keyword replies. Story replies, story mentions and “Only send to followers” are Instagram-only, so the MACROS Story set-up applies to Instagram.

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Answer every MENU comment in seconds

Pick a post and the word. DMFast replies under each comment, sends the DM and follows with your link once they answer, day and night. It can collect emails on the way. Free plan, no card.

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