Last Updated on Oct 7, 2024 by TrueBlueChef
HelloFresh had some humble beginnings. In 2011, the founders of the company packed their kits by hand.
AND delivered the meals themselves to their first ten customers.
Today, HelloFresh is an international meal delivery service with operations around the world.
HelloFresh is the largest meal delivery brand in the United States.
But - is bigger always better? We’ll let you decide!
This overview will give you the information you need.
Read on so you can make an informed decision about subscribing to HelloFresh. In this overview, we’ll cover:
HelloFresh started in Germany with a big ambition: to change the way that we eat.
The founders wanted regular people to have access to the freshest ingredients. And the know-how to cook them.
That's nothing short of taking fine dining out of expensive restaurants
And helping regular people get a taste.
HelloFresh’s meal kits focused on:
They even have wine pairings to go with your next meal.
HelloFresh also gives back to the communities where they operate.
This includes meal donations to help end hunger culinary arts training programs.
If you’re too busy for the full review, here are the key points for the HelloFresh review:
Overall score 17/20
HelloFresh is a great option if you’re looking for easy recipes, family-friendly meals, and great food.
We've ordered & cooked dozens of different meals and have first-hand, meal-kit experience, but we can't tell you which meal kit is best for you.
So, we've broken down ratings across 5 key categories, so you can decide what's best for you. We will let you know when there are issues - or when a meal kit exceeds expectations.
We break these reviews into five parts with all the details you need to make good choices. Wherever we can we base our review on things we can measure.
Overall, if you’re looking for good ingredients and easy recipes, HelloFresh might have you covered.
Are the veggies and meats fresh? Are you getting quality Ingredients? Are the serving sizes what you expected? HelloFresh does a decent job in most of our food categories.
HelloFresh is all about fresh, high-quality ingredients.
They are rigorous about choosing suppliers who align with their views on sustainability.
This ensures that you get great ingredients for your meal.
HelloFresh has a long menu to choose from. That includes vegetarian options that easily turn vegan.
Their website lists meals by month so that you can see the meal options they have available.
There are limited options for people with dietary restrictions.
HelloFresh does not do Keto/Paleo or gluten- and nut-free meals.
If you or your family is gluten-free or has severe food allergies, HelloFresh might not be your option.
HelloFresh takes sustainability seriously.
They work with local suppliers who share their vision of sustainable foods.
We had to take a point off of the review for universality.
But, HelloFresh is able to deliver some of the best quality food in the meal kit delivery service landscape.
Therefore, we give HelloFresh 3 out of 4 points in this category.
HelloFresh claims they are less expensive than shopping at the grocery store.
The claim factors in the cost of transportation. So, they might be comparing apples to oranges just a little bit.
From our experience, HelloFresh is still closer to eating out or getting a DoorDash order.
HelloFresh pricing is a little lower than other meal delivery kit companies. And the kits get less expensive the more meals you order.
Here’s a breakdown of HelloFresh’s pricing:
| Plan | Details | Price |
| 1 | 2 meals for 2 people per week | $13.99 per meal |
| 2 | 3 meals for 2 people per week | $10.99 per meal |
| 3 | 4 meals for 2 people per week | $10.49 per meal |
| 4 | 5 meals for 2 people per week | $10.79 per meal |
| 5 | 6 meals for 2 people per week | $10.79 per meal |
There are also options for up to four people for six meals per week. If you are looking for a family-friendly meal plan, that might be the option for you.
We are giving HelloFresh a 4 out of 4 here because of the variety of plans and prices available.
Here’s our experience of HelloFresh:
HelloFresh has a simple setup that takes about five minutes from start to finish.
It’s the usual contact information and payment details. Then you are ready to begin selecting your meals.
You even get to set your meal preferences, which can narrow down your meal selection.
Individually-packaged ingredients are always going to be a hassle.
A lot of the material is recyclable, but you’ll end up with small plastic bags with your HelloFresh order.
HelloFresh changes its packaging during the winter to something that isn’t recyclable
Which makes the packaging a little worse during that time.
HelloFresh has a few meals that are on the more difficult side.
If you’re a new or inexperienced cook, some of the meals might be a bit tough.
But, the recipe cards are simple and easy to read, and most of the meals are easy. HelloFresh says their meals take about 30 minutes to prep. In our experience, that’s been about right.
HelloFresh has a good Questions page and help center.
The page is arranged by topic which makes finding information easy.
They also have a really handy search bar where you can type in your question to see if there’s already an answer.
With the packaging issues, we give HelloFresh 3 out of 4 points in this category.
Home delivery meal kits are a convenient way to eat especially if you don’t like to go grocery shopping.
But each kit and service is going to have some unique things that make them fit into your life a little easier. HelloFresh does a great job in this category overall.
The HelloFresh plans set up a delivery schedule from the beginning.
You can get as few as two deliveries per week or as many as six if you want a full week of meal planning.
Our deliveries were on time for each meal, and if we needed to skip a week, that was easy to do in the settings menu.
There’s a good chance that your HelloFresh questions are already answered on their FAQ page.
If not, their contact information is easy to find at the bottom of the page.
HelloFresh offers a chatbot for easy 24/7 access to customer support.
If you’ve got a quick question this is definitely the way to go. For anything more complicated, the chatbot will direct you to a HelloFresh agent.
If you have something go missing from your delivery, the contact page also has a report button.
Hopefully, you'll never need it, but it’s nice to know it’s there!
We might have liked to see the contact information at the bottom of each page of their website, but that’s more of a personal preference.
The information is on the FAQ page, which is a logical choice. If you have a question, there’s a good chance you’ll be on that page anyway. So we can’t complain too much about having to dig a little bit.
The team gives HelloFresh 4 points for overall convenience.
HelloFresh doesn’t score perfectly in every category, but they still have a lot to offer.
As a meal delivery service, they do an outstanding job with their fresh ingredients and the variety of their meals.
Their setup, deliveries, and customer support are all great too.
Compared to some other meal delivery kit options, HelloFresh excels in some categories and falls a little behind in others.
The meal preparation experience was not as smooth for the home cook as it could be, but maybe you want a challenge. As always, this depends a little bit on what you will value.
For us, HelloFresh gets 3 points in this category because it is missing a little of that added convenience that we like to see from a meal kit.
Overall score 17 of 20 points.
HelloFresh has a wide variety of meals you can choose from
HelloFresh is a little less expensive than other meal kits.
HelloFresh has an extensive FAQ page with easy-to-read answers.
Packaging: Some of the packaging is a little wasteful.
Universality: If your diet is restricted, HelloFresh might not be the best option for you.
After our tests, we think HelloFresh is worth recommending. The pros outweigh the cons for this one.
Their lower prices might be especially helpful if you are getting into home delivery kits for the first time.
HelloFresh is a great start if you’re looking to get into cooking a wide variety of meals for a little cheaper than eating at a restaurant.
We’ve done some extensive testing on home delivery kits - and HelloFresh could have something to offer you.
Hopefully, you found this review informative. Thanks for taking the time to read all the way to the end!
If you’re interested in learning more, check out our Blue Apron Review to see how HelloFresh stacks up to some competition.
Thanks again!
