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Hello Fresh

February 13, 2012 by Katie Bryson 11 Comments

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Stir fryI’ve given a new meal London-based delivery service called Hello Fresh a whirl this month, and thought you might be interested to know how I got on.

The concept is simple – the recipes and ingredients for your week’s evening meals delivered in a box to your door on a Monday night.

They don’t assume you have anything in your storecupboards, even down to a pinch of chill or a knob of butter. You really don’t have to think about a thing.

The food was from a variety of different shops like Waitrose and Sainsburys, neatly packaged up so you’ve only got what you need so there’s no waste.

The meat and fish were of exceptionally high quality, but some of the veg was a little bit tired.

How much does it cost?

3 meals feeding 4 people £59
5 meals feeding 4 people £89

This includes the delivery cost.

Who’s it aimed at?

Judging by the price and the time-saving nature of the service, I think it would suit busy professionals who like cooking when they have time but aren’t very experienced at it.

Perhaps you’ve got a busy week coming up and can’t be bothered to make any food-related decisions but want to eat well or have people staying you want to cook nice things for without the hassle.

Or maybe you could buy it as a gift for someone who’s snowed under at work, or recovering from having a baby.

Recipes I tried:

Classic Tuna and Pasta Bake with a Crunchy Twist – classic family supper, very quick and simple and there was so much of it that I was able to put it everyone’s packed lunches the next day. The crunchy twist was the use of crumbled up cheese crackers for the topping which was unusual but worked.

Hello Fresh recipe card
The recipe card for the chocolate chilli

The Emperor’s Chocolate Chili Con Carne – this was my favourite by far as it’s not something I usually cook. Putting a small amount of dark chocolate in with the ground beef gave it a really rich yummy dimension. It wasn’t too spicy either so went down well with everyone in the family.

Penne at Sunset with Creamy Tomato, Fresh Salmon and Basil – not hugely healthy – but of course using double cream makes things totally luxe! For a weeknight meal i’d have been tempted to use half fat creme fraiche instead which I think would work just as well with the salmon. Again another simple meal that went down well with the troops.

My verdict:

The meals were pretty simple to make and really delicious – great to be able to have all the right ingredients to hand and not have spent much time menu planning for the week ahead.

I’m too much of a control freak to do something like this all the time though as I like to come up with my own recipes and ideas, but it was lovely to have a break, especially with relatives to cook for.

Drawbacks:

You’re paying for the convenience – it’s not cost effective to have portioned-off packets of staples like pasta and rice when you can buy cheaply in bulk to keep in your storecupboard.

It’s not your weekly shop, as you obviously still need to buy in breakfast and lunch items, along with your non-food things like washing powder.

The recipe cards were hard to read – tiny green text printed on a black background with the ingredients amounts on one side and the method on the other – I like it all at-a-glance on one page. It also doesn’t give you a nutritional breakdown or how long it takes to cook.

However Hello Fresh is still very much at the beginning of its journey, having launched a matter of weeks ago.

In the months ahead there will be improvements to the service, including options for vegetarians and special diets.

Thanks to Hello Fresh for supplying me with a box to review

Risotto from Hello Fresh

All your ingredients for your evening meals in one box

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Filed Under: 1 Featured Review, Product reviews Tagged With: meal delivery, menu planning, product review

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Comments

  1. Mummysknee says

    February 13, 2012 at 9:38 am

    Looks like a fab idea. As with anything like this it’s only by getting out there and starting and getting such constructive feedback that they will grow into a successful business!

    Reply
  2. Erin Reid says

    March 26, 2012 at 11:21 am

    Hi Katie! Very interesting post. My boyfriend and I are both working professionals in the city… so decided to give this service a whirl. we were quite impressed:

    food arrived at 7pm last Tuesday… all neatly packaged 🙂 ingredients were very healthy, and the recipes all contained a certain element of novelty (but were by no means revolutionary). Meals were also pretty easy to prepare.. and the portions (as you mentioned..) more than enough. All in all, we were really happy.. and will definitely continue our subscription. We were getting really sick of ready meals…. and the London lifestyle can be incredibly unhealthly as it is… so any little helps!

    Thanks for giving us the idea, and we hope this will catch on!

    ATB
    Erin

    Reply
    • Katie Bryson says

      March 26, 2012 at 2:08 pm

      i’m so pleased you had a positive experience with the service Erin – I think if I was a young professional again I’d have signed up immediately. I really hope the business does well as it’s encouraging people to eat well and cook for themselves in a manageable way that doesn’t require any planning or effort.

      Reply
  3. Kathy says

    May 19, 2012 at 1:08 pm

    have you heard about Foodybag. Check it out:
    http://www.foodybag.co.uk/
    sounds similar to HelloFresh the menue I got from Foodybag looks great I just ordered a bag and waiting for it.

    Reply
    • Katie Bryson says

      May 19, 2012 at 6:35 pm

      will have to check that out Kathy – thanks for the recommendation 🙂

      Reply
  4. Andy says

    July 31, 2012 at 10:34 am

    Just came across a similar thing called Gousto on Facebook, but this one lets you choose the recipes, looks really cool! http://www.gousto.co.uk/recipes/

    Reply
  5. Tom says

    March 21, 2013 at 11:26 am

    Nice review.

    I’ve got my own box this week to review so will see what I think. The menu cards have white text now and look straight forward to read.

    Other companies that offer some good delivery services I’d recommend are Riverford Organics and Saints & Slimmers.

    Tom

    Reply
    • Katie Bryson says

      March 21, 2013 at 1:13 pm

      Thanks for those tips Tom and let us know what you think of the box 🙂

      Reply
      • Tom says

        April 3, 2013 at 7:25 pm

        Hi Katie

        You can read my review here: http://www.fitnesscoupons.co.uk/reviews/hello-fresh-classic-meal-box-review.html

        🙂

        Tom

        Reply
  6. tink says

    January 7, 2014 at 3:48 am

    my friend bough me a box as i had just moved and though it would make life easier as most of my stuff was still boxed, although the meals were nice its false advertising not all the ingredient’s are measured for you if you have to use the same ingredient for more than one meal they just bulk it all together so you still have to weigh it out which is not what they advertise also there measurements were in cups and it had now conversion so now i have ingredient’s which should be in the right amounts and were not and i have to try and work out what a cup is in g or oz this did not make things easy If they are advertising it all measured them it should be and if your selling to people in England don’t use American measurements or at least out a conversion chart in

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Review: Foodybag meal delivery service says:
    June 21, 2012 at 7:32 am

    […] only operate in London, and offer a similar service to Hello Fresh who I tried out back in February, but Foodybag currently aim themselves at families rather than […]

    Reply

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About Katie

I’m Katie Bryson – Freelance Food Writer, wife of a strapping vegetarian and mum of two boisterous boys – keeping them all fuelled and trying to stay sane is a daily challenge so I thought I’d share my experiences. Read More...

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