I don't get 'hello fresh'

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Some friends of ours raved about hello fresh, do when they offered us a free box we jumped at the chance. But I just don't get it! I've had my 4 meals delivered and other than it bring pre-portioned out I don't see how it's easier than just making Ng your. Own stuff. I assumed that the meat and veg would come pre-prepped, peeled, chopped etc. But they don't! I'm still chopping peeling and mashing stuff. And I still have to do the weekly shop as it's only 4 evening meals.

Is it just that I'm not their target market? We cook from scratch anyway and I know how to cook. Is this aimed at ready meal/ take away/ freezer food every night people?

I spend about £80-100/week for food and groceries for 4 people for a week, the only meals that doesnt cover are 2 school dinners, and the occassional meal deal for me/DH if we forget to take lunch to work.
So £3-4/meal would seem quite a lot for a weekday meal for example when a stir fry and noodles, a chicken curry and rice, or a pasta dish is probably more like up to £1.50/portion. And my DC are pretty fussy, and I'm not convinced they would be any more enthusiastic about hello fresh meals than new recipes we occassionally try.

I agree £3-4 per person per meal really seems like a lot for a family of 4.

I'd expect to maybe pay that for a special Sunday roast dinner (but would also expect to have leftover meat to form the basis of at least one more meal, so actually it would be less).

For midweek meals, I'd expect to pay half that.

For one or two people I can see more value.

QueenPaw thanks. I'll give gusto a go if I can get a discount.

I'd just like to say that I don't judge anyone for using these sorts of services. I can see, particularly from this thread, that it does help some people. For me, the weekly trip to the supermarket is often the only time alone I get where I'm not at work, so that part I don't mind at all!

Inspired by this thread I’ve just ordered a gousto box for next week! I have tried hello fresh before as I got a flyer in the mail with a discount code and I really liked it but the incredibly fussy children moaned about everything. This time I have encouraged them to choose the meals and my 10 year old is going to help cook some of them.

I don’t mind shopping or cooking at all, it’s the meal planning I hate!

I use Riverford recipe boxes. They've definitely expanded the range of meals that we eat, and we have found some new family favourites over the past year. Not cheap, but we've spent next to nothing on going out for a year!

I find my food wastage has been reduced by doing Gousto. If I choose carefully I can stretch the meals for 2 to feed myself, husband and 2 young kids.

It isn’t for everyone but I really enjoy it and it gives me something to look forward to each week. Also in lockdown it was hard meal planning when you had planned and then supermarket stock availability meant you had to replan.

I would never consider using Hello Fresh.

Apparently my "no cold callers" sign doesn't apply to them. They ignored it. Twice.

I don't like companies that use pressurised doorstep selling

It's pointless in all honesty. There are so many bloody steps in most meals. Putting the oven on to roast 1 clove of garlic etc. Fuck that shit. We dis it for a few weeks (dps idea) I told him if he wanted to do it, he could make all the dinners and I would do the dishes. He soon got bored of that. There are a couple of recipes we will use again. I really liked Price Harry's chicken pie, and a Thai pork rice bowl. The rest was just average and every bloody thing seems to come with wedges and roast broccoli and I hate both so ended up making it different to the recipe.

I looked into these companies, but find them very expensive for what they are.

I also cook from scratch. I sometimes find myself needing inspiration, so I buy the Easy Cook magazine and the DC and I have tried many new ideas and get plenty of variety, with many meals being great budget dinners. It also helps that both DC cook, so we can take turns.

[quote bonbonours]@SusannaMorvern herbs and spices take forever to go off! I keep squeezy garlic, ginger, chili and herbs in the fridge, and dried herbs and spices in the cupboard for months, possibly even years. Have never had any of them go bad before they got used up.[/quote]
I keep ready chopped garlic and ginger in the freezer, keeps for ages then.

I use Gousto four nights a week and it makes my life so much easier. I'm not much of a planner, but I do love to cook, so I'd find myself faffing about every night trying to decide what to have and then taking ages to make it. I was also in a bit of a recipe rut and although my meals were homemade they weren't always that healthy.
I'm calorie counting atm and so I make sure all the meals I pick are 500 cals(ish) or under and it's made a huge difference and helped with my weight loss. I can understand it not being for everyone, but I think it's great!

@Iminaglasscaseofemotion

It's pointless in all honesty. There are so many bloody steps in most meals. Putting the oven on to roast 1 clove of garlic etc. Fuck that shit. We dis it for a few weeks (dps idea) I told him if he wanted to do it, he could make all the dinners and I would do the dishes. He soon got bored of that. There are a couple of recipes we will use again. I really liked Price Harry's chicken pie, and a Thai pork rice bowl. The rest was just average and every bloody thing seems to come with wedges and roast broccoli and I hate both so ended up making it different to the recipe.

There's literally 6 steps to every recipe...

Seen upthread someone said "you can just go to the Recipes section when doing a supermarket online shop and you get essentially the same thing only you can remove whatever items you already have at home' - I will be trying this and seeing how Mr Sainsbury compares!

I use simplycook, I have a code for a free box if anyone is interested in trying them. here You can cancel the subscription online anytime.

I like that it is just the herbs, spices, pastes and so on, so I can buy the vegetables we prefer (children can be fussy!) and easily double the recipe. The kits just sit in my cupboard with the recipe cards to use when I fancy, no pressure.

I tried Hello Fresh for a few weeks when I had a discount code and even with that thought it was a rip off for what we got, let alone paying full price. There were missing ingredients each time and some of the portions (especially meat) were tiny. Like others I assumed the ingredients would be prepared already. Needless to say I cancelled it pretty quickly!

This is in my threads I'm on

And every time I scroll past 'hello fresh' I think sanitary towel!

This referral link gets 65% off your first Gousto box so 4 delicious and highly recommended meals for 2 cost only £12.25! You can pause boxes or cancel anytime :)

cook.gousto.co.uk/raf/promo_code=KELLY42401604&utm_source=weblink