HelloFresh

I have tried a number of meal delivery services and I found Hello Fresh to be by far the best.

Things I liked include the box being very organized and in packages, fresh fish/meat, and fresh vegetables, especially compared with other services.

I found by using a meal delivery service that it has helped cut down on food waste (half the stuff goes bad on me in my fridge that I buy) and it really reduces my restaurant bills as we eat in way more often. Even my tween likes to keep me company in the kitchen and help cook, nothing is better than some mother and daughter bonding time. She likes trying new foods and I like how healthy it is compared to restaurant food. 

After seeing advertising all over the place I decided to give a meal delivery service a try. In the end I choose Hello Fresh over Blue Apron since Hello Fresh has been in the meal business for much longer, almost a decade. 

Overall I rate the experience as average. I used the service for over 4 months and have since canceled it. I may try it again but would probably choose another company to try out. I like the idea but I found Hello Fresh not as fresh (ironically) as I would like. I am a vegetarian so I am not sure about the meals with beef or chicken. 

The reason I used it for so long is that I did enjoy the recipes and the different vegetarian meals they came up with. My meal boxes always came on time I am just not sure why the vegetables were as fresh as a regular grocery store. Is it the product Hello Fresh has at their warehouses? Is it the shipping? Is it the packaging not keeping things as cold? I don't think it is the packaging as things came cold esipecially in the fall and winter months here in New York.

I hope my review helps someone out.

I was offered a  free trial for the first month of Hello Fresh so I decided to join. Glad I did because I have been using it ever since. I live alone and get the 2 person deal for 3 meals which ends up being 6 meals for me which means my entire dinner bill ends up only being $70 for the week which is much cheaper than before when I ate out all the time.

I really enjoy the different recipes and food options. Makes me try new things which I found out I really enjoy (I ate pretty much the same thing week in and out before). The odd time there is a recipe I am not super fond of but it's a learning experience and fun to cook. BTW who knew I could be a cook? I didn't and I am glad I found out because it is a great stress reliever after work.

Food has always been fresh for me and there has only been once when I had a missing ingredient in the box. I called Hello Fresh and they refunded me the week and since I knew about it before hand (as I always review the contents and recipes) I was able to go purchase the noodles at the store and still enjoy the meal.

The quality of the ingredients is the most important part of these type of services and Hello Fresh meets my standards. I've always received fresh veggies and meats and have enjoyed almost all of the recipes. I work from home as a graphic artist so my boxes don't have a chance to be outside long. I do go out for work to meet with clients occasionally so I always schedule what day my delivery comes and plan accordingly. 

After my first box which was discounted I knew I'd be charged for subsequent boxes unless I paused a week or if I called to cancel the service completely. This is pretty standard for meal services after researching the others available in my area.

As I said above I've loved most of my meals, the ones I did not was really just personal preference and not because the recipe was not good since my husband seemed to like them. 

Currently our kitchen is being renovated which is suppose to last about a month so we have our Hello Fresh account on hold. As soon as the kitchen is done I plan to continue with Hello Fresh. We are currently eating out a lot because of the renos and have already gained some weight. I am already missing the healthy meals and the variety we have been cooking at home. I've dealt with Hello Freshes customer service once to pause the account and am pleased with their friendly manner and understanding.

We have enjoyed the Hello Fresh service over the last 3 months. A few things could be improved though to give it a full 5 star rating.

What we do enjoy is the vegetarian meals. We are not full vegetarians but we choose at least 1 a week for our box of 3 meals.  I do not know the first thing about putting a vegetarian meal together so this has been a real time saver. It has also helped us stay healthy and keep the cholesterol down which was becoming a problem.  It's also great not to think about what to cook for dinner, even my husband is getting into cooking now and he has never cooked in our 20 years of marriage. 

The one thing I would improve is the delivery times. Sometimes it comes later at night when we are in bed. I much rather come before 5pm. I have called about it and apparently it is the shipper who delivers to us.  We are on the far end of their route so that is why the shipment is late. Hello Fresh did say they will look into this and possibly try a different shipper.