My HelloFresh Experience

I opted to try HelloFresh as a junior in college with my first apartment, after I realized I knew nothing about cooking and hated trying to plan meals. I was drawn to the service because I liked that you could pick meals every week and they came with all ingredients and instructions to follow. They also had great discounts for new customers and I can’t turn down a good deal.

The Food

Every week, I browsed through the available meals to pick out my dinners and lunches. I tended to go for meals that were able to be made gluten-free, since they surprisingly don’t offer gluten-free plans, despite the variety of other plans. I would look at the list of allergens and also at the meal itself, so if it called for breadcrumbs for example, I knew I would just need to get my own gluten-free breadcrumbs to supplement.

I liked also picking at least one vegetarian meal since I am not a huge meat lover and try to reduce my meat intake. Gradually, I started to find meals that were my go-to’s when they were an option. Before ending my subscription at the end of college, I compiled a list of my favorites:

• Salmon in a Creamy Dijon Chive Sauce
• Coconut Curry with Chickpea & Bell Pepper
• Banh Mi Meatball Bowls
• My Big Fat Greek Chicken Salad
• Lemony Spaghetti with Brussels Sprouts
• Street Cart-Style Turkey Bowls
• Zingy Mustard Soy Salmon
• Gingery Pork Ramen Stir-Fry
• One Pot Pork & Bean Chili
• Sheet Pan Pork with Creamy Mustard
• Goat Cheese Chicken with Figgy Balsamic

The Prices

I’m not gonna lie, HelloFresh is not cheap by any means. With the cheapest plan currently starting at $56 weekly, you would spend well over $100 per month and that’s just the two meals-a-week option. Granted, that’s meant for two people so it means leftovers and extra meals if you’re just eating for one. In my case, it would end up being more like four meals minimum. But for me, it only served its purpose as my dinners. I would still have to grocery shop for breakfast, lunch, snacks and occasionally, an extra dinner or two. So while it was great with the discount, it made me cringe when the deal ran out. I may or may not have used different emails and started new accounts just to get the new customer discounts…

While it is something I recommend for maybe one to two people, I have talked to friends who’s families tried it and found it was lackluster in portion sizes, especially with more than two adults. Be aware of this if you’re considering this for the family.

The Delivery

One of my favorite things about HelloFresh was that you could pick your own delivery date for each week. And on days when I couldn’t get to the box right away and my roommates were away, I was relieved knowing that the food is packed with several ice packs and well insulated. That’s not to say you should be frequently leaving out your packages for extended periods of time, especially with meat, but it did remove some stress. There were also only a few times when boxes came wet on the bottom, improperly packaged or missing something. If so, it’s easy to submit a complaint to the company and in one of my roommate’s cases, they may offer you a voucher for the inconvenience.

Overall, I had a pleasant delivery experience. I found that HelloFresh is relatively efficient and consistent with this aspect of the service.

The Impact

In college, I rarely paid attention to things like B Corp Certifications, sustainability initiatives, carbon footprint and just generally the environmental impact of the food and clothes I purchased. In my defense, I was busy with school and juggling my part-time jobs. I was also on a student budget. Although now, as an English teacher in Spain I’m still on a budget, but I’m definitely more conscious of all of these factors before spending money.

As I’m scrolling through the HelloFresh website, I’m reminded that they are very open and transparent about their sustainability practices and environmental impact. A 2022 summary of ISO 14040 compliant life cycle assessments showed that the company’s meal kits have an average of 31% lower carbon emissions than meals that source ingredients from American supermarkets, according to 3BL CSR Wire. The HelloFresh website also says they have social initiatives that address issues such as food insecurity to directly make an impact on the community they serve.

So if this is something you look for in a company, HelloFresh may check off the boxes. Always do your own research before committing to anything, but the evidence is looking good for the brand.

Overall, I would recommend HelloFresh to anyone looking to dabble in cooking and doesn’t mind not getting pre-prepared meals, craving the convenience of weekly deliveries and only eating for 1-2 people. Doing the meal service for two years in college really got me into cooking as well as offering me meal inspiration and ideas that I still use to this day. I have no regrets and know that my college-aged self really appreciated it.

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