Meals to Your Door Services

So there's a lot of companies out there that "specialize" in that whole meal to door thing. Plated, Blue Apron, HelloFresh, etc etc etc They tend advertise themselves as having fresh ingredients, right proportions, and easy to cook meals designed for people of all skill levels done relatively quickly.

So, has anyone here tried any of these services out? If so, what was your impression of the service you got? Which provider did you try out? What made you decide to try that compared to conventional grocery shopping? Are you still using their service, did you switch to a different provider, or have you gone back to the more conventional methods? Or did you originally start using this kind of service to learn how to cook and then eventually spread out away from them?

We've actually been using HelloFresh for a couple months now. Last two suppers I've had have been through them actually.

Great product, fresh and well portioned. Also great price for what you're getting. Great way to try new foods that you otherwise may never have tried.

I've used Hello Fresh - the food is decent, and if you're a hopeless cook and/or shopper - it can be convenient and the recipes talk you through it.


I didn't find it particularly good value for money, and despite the "ready made" portions in each "box" (ie, the exact about of sauce or cheese or whatever you need for the recipe) I didn't find it any quicker to prepare, or clean up from each meal.

The main benefits were
1 - Not going to the shops
2 - As Ari says, you might try a few recipes and food ideas that are not in your normal range of foods.

downsides -
Craploads of packaging due to the individually sized portions of recipe items
if you're not home when they deliver, your box of food just sits outside, getting less fresh.
you have to tell people you're using hello fresh (they assume your butler/valet has died or retired and you now have to pay a commercial service to bring you food)

It wouldn't be hard to imagine using them for a week or two, then collecting the recipes you enjoyed and doing normal grocery shopping from there to pick up the ingredients etc.