The Internet is littered with hundreds, if not thousands, of sponsored meal kit reviews. It's hard to separate the paid and unpaid reviews, with "influencers" claiming to be real and transparent to their viewers and followers, but churning out sponsored videos and posts one after another, filled to the brim with affiliate links. I have watched my fair share of videos "brought to you by" Blue Apron or HelloFresh, it was innocent enough in the beginning, however now it seems that you can't really escape their aggressive marketing strategies.
I wanted to try out HelloFresh, probably the most popular of the services offered (especially in Australia), to see if it really does stack up against the claims of these influencers, and because - let's be real for a sec - I seriously suck at meal planning and am constantly throwing out mouldy food I have forgotten in the back of my refrigerator!
So, did it live up to my expectations?
Cost
I found a deal offered through the website itself for $50 off my first box. I had seen tonnes of similar coupon codes just by googling it, however this seemed to be the best offer. I chose to opt for the three meals for two people, which originally cost $69.95, but with the $50 off came down to $19.95. At $3.33 per serve I thought that was a pretty good deal, unlike the $11.66 per serving price for the original cost of the box. The meals I chose were the Baked Chicken Risotto, American Pork Burgers and Mexican Beef Quesadillas. There are also options for a Gourmet recipe and Dinner To Lunch recipe, both costing an extra $5.95 per person, which I thought was a bit steep, especially if you're already paying the full price of $11.66 per serve.
Delivery
Depending on where you live you are given a few different days and time slots for when you want your meal kit to be delivered. I originally chose Sunday between 1-7, believing that it would be PM, and didn't realise that it was actually AM - clearly I can not read! I was pleasantly surprised that it had already been delivered once I woke up on Sunday morning, and am very happy having the option to have it delivered at night, so that I don't need to wait at home for the delivery or worry that the contents of the box is getting spoiled whilst I am at work. The courier service has a great tracking site, which tells you an approximate time of delivery, and shows a picture taken by the delivery man of proof that it has arrived. All in all, I am very happy with the delivery service, and know that I will have peace of mind for future deliveries.
Convenience
I love the idea of having everything delivered to me, rather than having to go to the grocery store myself. Each recipe has its ingredients packaged separately in colour coded paper bags, except for the cold items such as meat and dairy, which come packed in an insulated bag kept cold by a reusable ice pack. The box comes with everything you will need except a few pantry staples that most people should have on hand, such as salt, pepper and olive oil. For my Baked Chicken Risotto, the recipe called for balsamic vinegar. Whilst I had some on hand, I felt that not everyone would have that as a pantry staple. Each recipe had a cooking and prep time ranging between 25-40 minutes, however when creating each dish I found myself sometimes taking 20-30 minutes longer than the time they state. Whilst I enjoy cooking, so I don't mind spending time in the kitchen, those who want a quick meal, may find following the recipes a bit tedious and time consuming.
Quality
My biggest concern for trying one of these services, was that I couldn't choose the quality of the ingredients packed into my box. This is something that has stopped me from using home delivery or click & collect services at grocery stores as I can't control the freshness of the produce they pick or expiry dates of the products I am buying. I was very happy to see that the produce, such as vegetables and fresh herbs were fresh and hadn't been squashed in transit. However, I was not as satisfied with the expiration dates, with many of the dairy and meat products having fairly short dates. Whilst I know that they expect customers to create the meals within the week, before any of the products go off, I had leftover sour cream from the Quesadilla recipe, which I could not keep for much longer due to the short expiration date. Another concern I had was the size of the portions for each meal. I found that whilst the portions of proteins, such as chicken and fish were not as large as I would normally cook with if I was preparing my own recipe, mixed with the other elements of the dish, the portion sizes were very reasonable.
Would I Try It Again?
I loved getting to try out new recipes that I would never have thought about making otherwise. Often I find myself in a bit of a rut, cooking the same meals time and time again. However, with HelloFresh I was excited to try out new dishes. The meals are easy, you get to learn new cooking techniques, and the shopping is all done for you. What's more to love? The only downside, and for me it may be a deal breaker, is the cost! It was great getting my first box for $19.95, but I can't swallow the idea of spending over $10 per serve for a meal I cooked myself. I love the idea of using the service if you are away on vacation, rather than spending a small fortune on going out to eat every night, and I may splurge and buy a box here and there, but can't see it as a sound investment to continue every week. For now, I will just scroll through their Instagram feed and try not to drool!
Let me know if you have tried HelloFresh, or any of the other meal kit services.
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