Hello Fresh Meal Delivery Service
Hello Fresh is a meal service which offers a variety of food options that are delivered to your front door. These are not pre-made meals and it will require you to actually cook the ingredients in the box. As you probably already know, healthy meal services are popping up everywhere you look. If you are on social media, you have probably seen multiple adds for different companies trying to lure you into a purchase. There are also a variety of celebrities paid to flaunt their home cooked meal in hopes that someone will want to purchase because of popularity. Anyways, back to Hello Fresh, and how it all came to be!
In 2011 Hello Fresh first originated in Berlin, Germany and it was founded by Dominik Richter, Thomas Griesel, and Jessica Nilsson. They started small but have quickly boomed into one of the largest meal-kit provider services in the United States. In 2018, Hello Fresh then acquired Green Chef which is a US organic meal company. As you can tell, they have quite the momentum on their side.
How Does Hello Fresh Work?
When you first go onto the website it will ask you to pick out your preferences: Household size, schedule, and dietary preferences. Once your preferences are selected you will be prompted to create an account, because without an account you will not be able to customize and create the meal options you want to try. Once you are inside of the site, it will then take you to the menu page, where you can choose the type of meals you would like to try and cook. For example there are a few different plans to choose from:
- Veggie Plan- $5.00-$9.00 per serving with a 3 meal option.
- Classic Plan- $5.00-$9.00 per serving with a 2,3, or 4 meal option plan.
- Family Plan- $5.00-$7.00 per serving with a 2 or 3 meal option plan.
Examples Of The Food You Will Be Cooking:
Classic: Presto Pesto Panko Chicken, Korean Beef, and Fajitas.
Family: Teriyaki Chicken Stir Fry, Parmesan Chicken Dippers, Grilled Caprese Burgers, and Little Ears Pasta.
Veggie: Sweet N Sour Yakisoba Noodles, Harissa Sweet Potato Pita Pockets, and Gorgeous Greens Farro Bowl.
The ingredients are pre-measured for the customer, and each meal comes with instructions on how to create the meal. In your preferences you can choose between five options. These include meals under 600 calories, a “fit style” meal, beef free, pork free, or even a quick meal option. If you do not care, just click no preference. Lastly, you can customize when you want your shipments sent to you, and can cancel or pause anytime.
The Bottom Line: You will first sign up with an account on the company’s main website, and it will ask you to customize your preferences such as your household size and dietary likes. You will then choose from their 3 different plans, and specify how many people are in your family so they know how much food to send over. Each plans subscription can be cancelled or changed at anytime.
Is Hello Fresh Safe?
The first thought that popped into my mind was simply about the freshness of the food, and how sanitary this is. On the website, they quote “Our boxes are layered with an insulating liners and ice packs to keep ingredients cool until you get home. All your meats and dairy are wrapped with special material to keep them cool until you get home on delivery day.”
There has been very little chatter about any food going bad, and if it were to go bad the company would most likely cover it for you. So is Hello Fresh safe? Yes, this is a safe company with safe food to eat! They source their food from quality places. The seafood comes from an ocean friendly. In fact, the company was rated a “Best Choice” by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood watch program. The meat and poultry come from farms and ranches that have high standards as well, so you should not worry about getting poor quality food.
The Bottom Line: Hello Fresh is safe, and the ingredients are of quality.
Pros and Cons of Hello Fresh
There are definitely pros and cons with any meal service, and this type of service is not for everyone. If you are on the go and very busy you might not have time to utilize all of the ingredients in the boxes each week. It would be a crying shame to pay for these fresh ingredients only to let them go bad due to you eating out because of a busy schedule. When looking into a meal service, ask yourself if you will really have the time to cook the meals.
The meals start at $60.00 per week and can go all of the way up to $100 per week depending on your food preferences and your family size.
PROS
- Fast and easy meals delivered to your door.
- Pre measured ingredients and healthy food options.
- Recipe cards for clear instructions on how to prepare the food.
- The customers choice on which meals they want.
- Easy and hassle free subscription service.
- Convenient
CONS
- More expensive than buying the ingredients at the grocery store.
- If you are a picky eater, you might not utilize all of the ingredients you are paying for.
- The meals are not customizable.
- The writing on the recipes cards is very small, so be ware if you cannot read small print.
- All of the ingredients are fresh and MUST be used so that you do not waste food and money.
Conclusion
Overall, this company makes it easy for the customer with their meals coming with pre-cut food and instructions that are straight to the point. Yes, this is rather expensive if you eat at home more than you eat out. For those who eat out more, this is a more cost effective way to eat throughout the week however, and it is healthier too. As with anything there are definite pros and cons, but this meal service does not have any large red flags that make me cringe. The food is said to be fresh, and the meals are versatile to meet standards of anyone’s palate. The company is offering a $60 off your first order, so it may be a good option to try out even if it is for one time only.
