To think meal prep box costs are hard to justify

OP the target market will be comparing the cost to takeaways, not supermarket trips.
During certain busy periods at work I just don't have the energy to meal plan, and get bored of my staples!
SimplyCook however looks like a much better idea. As PP have pointed out the problem with trying new recipes is needing to buy a load of ingredients only to use a small amount... When I want new flavours this puts me off.

I've been using Hello Fresh for a few months because at 60 I am sick of meal planning and we can afford it. I am paying for the convenience.

Having said that, the mushroom and bacon pasta we had the other night definitely didn't justify the cost!

Basically if it stops you saying "oh sod it, we'll get a takeaway" once a week then it's worth it.

Never used them, everything is made from basic ingredients here. We rarely eat ultra processed food due to allergies. I do sometimes get to try out recipes my friends send me from box companies though which are nice. But for me it’s comparable to buying a new recipe book.

I use them to reduce the mental load of planning and shopping, and in place of takeaways, which we were having too often for that reason.
I don’t think they are hugely expensive because you only buy what you need whereas a lot of the ingredients you might need to buy a big bottle of a certain type of seasoning and only use a teaspoon of it.

Well now this is a great idea! Off to Center Parcs later in the year and will absolutely be doing this!!

I’ve used them a fair amount because I’m a rubbish cook and gets me out of a Spag Bol/fajita/curry rut. I don’t think they’re that overpriced for the convenience of it, especially if it means I don’t have to go to the shop where I’ll inevitably end up spending a small fortune on snacks etc, so ironically the weeks I use Gousto my overall shopping bill comes down.

As a single person they are great, I don't have a freezer so can't batch cook and if I try shopping I end up with loads of waste or over eating because you can't buy many things in one person portions eg meat etc.

And in terms of cost I save a fortune by rarely going to the supermarket because I'm not buying things I don't need. I have a milkman who also delivers butter, cheese, bread, eggs etc. A bit more expensive but overall my food bill has dropped because of the not 'popping to the shops for one or two things'

I think overall I probably saved money when doing Gousto. I made far less trips to the supermarket and therefore had less opportunity to fill my trolley with things I just fancied rather than needed. I also ate healthier for the same reasons - I bought far less crisps/biscuits etc.

ExH and I really enjoyed the meals, they weren’t always things the children enjoyed though which is why I don’t use it anymore now that I’m divorced and it’s just me and DC.

The portion sizes are fine, the quantities calculated to create portions that are a relatively healthy calorie/fat/carb/protein balance. If you think the portion sizes are too small, you are likely eating portions that are too large ordinarily. That’s certainly my experience.

I use Hello Fresh as a cookery lesson/practice for teenagers. Absolutely fantastic for that imo, they crack on and choose/cook an entire meal with no input from us. But would be far too expensive to feed us all for a week.

We get two meals for 4 each week and both dc1 and dc2 have one night where they cook. However, I also find the portions small - a box for 4 is usually enough to feed the 3dc only (16, 14, 7). Dh and I just have egg on toast or something on HF nights.

We had a few of them, I was pretty unimpressed! So over priced and so much plastic waste. And I already had most of the ingredients.

I used Hello Fresh once, when I got a free box. It was okay.

The ingredients were very fresh, the portion sizes were pretty big. The meals were fine. I thought they might have been a bit more interesting that they were. Had I paid full price I would have been disappointed.

They definitely have their place with people that want to cook proper ingredients but are limited for time, and I would use them again with a good enough offer - but full price just wouldn't be worth it for me.

I found them tiny. We had to add extras.

It doesn't work for us because we have children and we all eat together. We used it briefly on nursery days when they are fed there but we're still starving afterwards

i also like simply cook

I've never used them myself, because generally I enjoy meal planning and cooking. But I think the boxes are a great idea for those who don't. A close friend has had some rough times recently and does not enjoy meal planning (so understandably it got dropped). Using the meal boxes meant at least she was still eating reasonably balanced meals, not purely living off ready meals for months.

For a lot of people, being able to have decent food without using brain power is a real boon, I think it's fab these exist as an alternative to take aways etc. Of course you can do them cheaper, same as almost always where something is designed for convenience, it won't be the cheapest.

We alternated between Hello Fresh and Gusto for a few years, using codes etc. Then switched to Simply Cook which we found much more cost efficient as you buy your own fresh ingredients so you don't have to eat everything within a certain timeframe. And I just chose my meals then added what I needed to my Tesco delivery. But then I was like why am I paying £40 a month for these boxes when I can just choose meals out of a recipe book and add ingredients to my shop. So now I do that...come full circle I guess!! But I really try to keep food costs for family of 4 at £500 a month.

I use Gousto for our mid week meals and it’s really improved the variety of what I eat and reduces the mental load of deciding what to eat and shopping (and usually forgetting something and going shopping again). My DH is also not a great cook and usually does much better with the Gousto recipes where everything is portioned out and there are clear instructions.

It might have a bit more plastic waste but theres less food waste than when I shop and cook separately, especially if cooking for 2 people. I am also guilty of buying some expensive ingredient for a recipe, using a small amount and then not managing to use the rest before it goes off so for recipes with an unusual ingredient it could be cost effective.

We are really enjoying using HF after receiving a 65% discount code for our first box and 20% off subsequent boxes.

The time I have saved at weekends not going shopping and thinking about what to have for tea, and the worst part about food shopping (as I shop at Aldi, so no deliveries) is packing it all into bags and unpacking and putting it all away at home , well I'm happy to pay a premium for that.

We've not had a repeated tea for around a month. Portion sizes are good, meals are tasty.

Yes, you still have to go to the shops, but it isn't the same.

It has made my life a lot easier that's for sure.

I don't use them, but I know people who do. It is a good option particularly for people who are bad at meal planning. I think the biggest thing they do is take off the mental load of planning and shopping, and they help unconfident cooks who are unsure about branching out from their 5 reliable standbys. With the kits you get exactly enough to make the recipe, so if you want to try something really new to you, you don't have to make a big investment in ingredients that you might not use again. If you understand the very basics of how to cook but not much more, the kits help you figure things out. The recipes are easy to follow. I know people who started out with the kits and then as they got better, started cooking on their own.

I also think the market is much more people who would otherwise spend a lot on ready meals and takeaways, not so much people who are regular cooks. It helps a bit if you're very short on time (I have a friend who does them occasionally for that) but you do still have to cook.

I use Gousto occasionally. There’s also a supermarket version whose name escapes me - you log on to its website, choose a recipe, and it adds all the ingredients for that recipe to your shopping basket at Sains/Ocado/whatever.

A few things I would say on this:

It's nothing like a ready meal - it's a freshly cooked meal you get at the end

I do enjoy being creative with cooking a lot - but for me gousto helps with that. I don't get Gousto all the time - roughly once a fortnight for four dinners so I am still cooking 10/14 dinners a fortnight. I pick Gousto recipes from cuisines I am less familiar with and that use ingredients I wouldn't typically buy so I get to try things out which I then incorporate

You're basically paying for (your) time. To me it's worth it, to have someone already thought about it all, and I pay a little bit more to get one where the prep has already been done. It's expensive, but worth it (just).

We find them very good value. DH likes to cook a wide variety of dishes and the small packages are more per gram but much better than the quarter used packages he used to hoard.

We get one Hello Fresh each month.

It's a fun way to try new recipes for us.

We use it for variety. It's not. Bout cost saving it convenience for us.

There is no meat included. You have to buy it yourself. simply Cook is not the same as HF, Mindful Chef and Gousto. It’s just recipes and seasonings.

I love a bargain but I am picky about both quality and (the extent I can afford) the provenance and of my food, with an eye toward sustainability and animal welfare. I can’t imagine what kind of ingredients, in what quantities, could be produced for under £2.50, including the meal box company’s costs for pre-preparation as well as profits.