Whilst I am sure you may be familiar with the name having seen it in ad banners, on YouTube, and even promoted by some of your favourite influencers here is what you need to know about this company.
Hello Fresh
First introduced in Germany in 2011, Hello Fresh has expanded over the last 11 years and is now available in 17 Countries. This meal box delivery service is a stand-out name amongst a growing group of comparable companies and one that should start grabbing your attention.
Their operation is centred on a rethink of the traditional grocery delivery business model. They provide ingredients in exact amounts to make specific meals at a given number of servings per meal. For each box ordered in a week, there is a menu, a rather extensive one if I might add, and you choose which meals you would like to receive ingredients for.
This model is aimed at reducing money spent on food that is not actually eaten and reducing food waste. These are, understandably, two things we often aim to do when making selections in a traditional grocery shop. We are, however, not always so successful.
Hello Fresh Recipe Choices
To give you an idea of what kind of variety HelloFresh Provides here is a snapshot of the available menu from the time of this article’s writing. You can choose from dishes like mango chutney chicken wraps, harissa sausage naan pizza, roasted sweet potato and bean chilli, halloumi and roasted pepper rigatoni, cheesy chipotle bean quesadillas and so much more.
There are plenty of vegetarian and “meaty” options although it must be said that there are fewer vegetarian options than those containing meat. The meal choice is plentiful and each dish contains a host of flavours that have been astutely chosen to come together in creating some serious depth of taste and texture.
Cost-effectiveness
When I go food shopping in the classic sense, I always choose perishable items which have the longest shelf life left. This is helpful so I have more than enough opportunity to use each ingredient I buy before it spoils. Whilst I am usually quite good at doing so I am not always able to use every food item before its best before date. I am sure I am not the only one who feels absolutely awful when that one bag of veg that has been sitting at the back of the fridge goes bad and has to all be thrown away.
Over the past two or so months that I have been using Hello Fresh I can see a clear difference in the number of groceries that have been bought which go to waste. Of course, if you are looking for the cheapest ingredients, which can be bought in bulk and you freeze your protein sources and employ all the other usual money-saving “hacks” then you can probably buy more food for less money.
It must be said that this approach compromises the freshness and flavour of the foods you can cook. Using Hello Fresh for at least some meals helps ensure that I only buy what I need when I need it from the grocery store. Finding a balance that suits you is where you will find the most value for this service
I also find that Hello Fresh encourages cooking when you might otherwise look to go out to eat. The meals are of the quality and complexity of flavour that makes them of comparable quality to many meals you may find out on the town. We all know how the price of a meal out is spiralling in an upward direction.
To add even further value for money you can currently get 50% off your first box and 35% of the next three using the code HELLOGF50 from Gymfluencers. That is a massive saving off of a month’s worth of food deliveries
My recommended use:
In conducting my own trial of this service I didn’t want to use it for only one or two weeks. I have been using Hello Fresh for the past two months. At this time I feel I have found a good balance between this service and traditional food shopping. For your first box, you can choose between 3 and 5 different meals and have 1 – 4 servings per meal. You can have up to 6 meals from your second week onwards.
If you are feeding between 1 and 2 people I would recommend the 5 meal plan with 2 servings per meal. If there is only one person you will have lunch and dinner for 5 days easily on hand. If there are two people eating then that’s still a whole working week worth of dinners. The second is how I personally have used it as I currently live with my partner.
It is easy to make cost-effective breakfasts and lunches throughout the week in order to fill the gaps and at the end of the day you can relax with an exceptional meal that you have made yourself and that does not take unduly long to prepare. It has certainly found its way into my regular meal planning.
The Verdict
This is something I would not recommend writing off. Cancelling is easy, as is skipping a week when you want to. I think that HelloFresh could liven up a lot of kitchens and it is in your interest to try it if you love food. I count calories and protein personally and all of the meals contain exact nutritional information which makes my calorie control even easier. Hello Fresh is flexible and fun and who doesn’t love that combination.
