To have thought that HelloFresh chicken would be free range?

[FungalLurkins]

I signed up for one week half price (and then immediately cancelled) on a whim just to see what it was like (proving MN in thread advertising is definitely effective and that I should always use an ad blocker)

Before choosing chicken for any of my meal options I googled as I never buy non-free range and found a statement on a HelloFresh website stating they only source free range so I thought "good" and carried on.

When box arrived chicken looked suspiciously cheap and no mention of free range on pack just suspect "Class A" so I Googled again and found out that I had stupidly looked at and seen the statement on the HF New Zealand website previously. No mention on UK site so I spoke to customer services and they confirmed that it is definitely not FR. I asked why and (bafflingly) they said it was because they have too many customers and it is impossible for them to source FR. It seems more likely to me that it is a cost rather than supply issue but either way, AIBU to think that this isn't really on for a company that markets itself as HF does or would others expect this? (And if you use/have used/ would consider using such a service, do you care?)

I wouldn't ever consider using a 'service' like that in the first place. You get what you pay for!

Wouldn’t use.

How, though, does chicken look “suspiciously cheap” 🤣

@MrsSkylerWhite

Wouldn’t use.

How, though, does chicken look “suspiciously cheap” 🤣

I only meant the packaging. It looked like non free range does in the supermarket. Same sort wording on the label.

Urgh no, that's unacceptable in this day and age. I don't blame you OP.

I stopped buying from 'The Happy Egg company' after reading about the horrendous conditions their 'free range' chickens are kept in.

I've gone vegan now because I just can't bear it.

@GreenFingersWouldBeHandy

I wouldn't ever consider using a 'service' like that in the first place. You get what you pay for!

Ha, yes. Fair point! I wouldn't usually either. It was really just out of curiosity. I actually very much enjoy making recipes and planning meals.

Yes that’s why i stopped using them. The meat is shite.

I stopped using recipe boxes when I realised I could actually source mostly local and organic free range meat from my local resource hub (like a farmers market online in my area that does drops once a week). I keep the recipe cards though, as some of them are pretty good, especially the ten minute ones because I tend to obsessively overprepare food (I cook all our meals from scratch). I buy about 500g of mince, 600-700g of chicken thighs and bacon. Always comes to way less than a tenner and I know the chickens lived in a nice field ten minutes away.

It does take time to research, meal plan and shop this way, and the importance of all those things shouldn't be underestimated, because they are a luxury. I completely get my these boxes appeal to people, and they do generate less food waste, which is a really good thing. I can't bear to throw out old veg!

@coatofmanycolors

You do know that there's no such this as Uk free range chicken just now due to the avian flu housing order?

This, sadly.

@KittensTeaAndCake

Urgh no, that's unacceptable in this day and age. I don't blame you OP.

I stopped buying from 'The Happy Egg company' after reading about the horrendous conditions their 'free range' chickens are kept in.

I've gone vegan now because I just can't bear it.

I keep hens. My lovely girls have the life of Riley!

I keep hens. My lovely girls have the life of Riley

Ahh bless you. My DD has said we should get our own hens then we can eat eggs without the guilt.

@KittensTeaAndCake

Urgh no, that's unacceptable in this day and age. I don't blame you OP.

I stopped buying from 'The Happy Egg company' after reading about the horrendous conditions their 'free range' chickens are kept in.

I've gone vegan now because I just can't bear it.

Yeah, I'm resigning myself to the fact that veganism might be the only way. I've been attempting the whole "ethical animal product consumer" thing recently. V minimal amounts of free range chicken/eggs and game. Very limited fish and and beef or dairy at all. But actually I still end up doing things like this and inadvertently funding practices I really don't approve of so maybe it has to be strict veganism.

@coatofmanycolors

You do know that there's no such this as Uk free range chicken just now due to the avian flu housing order?

I had heard about this but I suppose (naively seemingly) thought there would still be a difference in standards.

My hens are currently in flockdown but we keep them in a big pen with a tarp over it and lots of enrichment for them to peck about in, tyres, perches, sandy boxes for dust bathing. It's the best we can manage and they seem pretty happy (they're not pecking holes in each other and they're still laying).

I mean, I would hope a kind farmer would be similarly innovative.

I did the vegetarian version of HF as I also only buy free range. Sadly they kept substituting meals and subbing it my veggie choice with meat ones!

There are apps about now that you can locate local free range eggs from honesty stalls etc. Once my hens start laying again I'll be putting my stall on one!

Wouldn’t touch non-free range chicken. So horrendously cruel. I can’t see how people manage to eat it without gagging. When we’re skint and can’t afford free range we just have veg and a tin of e.g. butter beans.

At least you got chicken. I signed up for a week of HF on a cheap intro trial and all they sent m was rice, noodles some soy sauce and about 6 yellow peppers . Tricky to do pulled pork or whatever it was with just that lot! When I fed that back to the company they completely ignored me. So fuck em.

Well what can you expect from cheap chicken. You get what you pay for. Personally my chickens are complaining about flockdown and haven't laid an egg for weeks. But they are very happy

We sometimes do hello fresh and just avoid the chicken recipes - there are normally enough ones we like to get mostly veg ones and maybe a couple of fish or mince based ones. It’s a shame that they don’t offer free range chicken as some of the chicken recipes look nice if it wasn’t for that.

I’d ideally like to switch to one that does free range chicken, but those ones are out of my price range!

We use Gousto and their chicken is disgusting. We only order vegan and veg meals now, with just an occasional red meat thrown in.

I think Mindful chef uses free range chicken etc

@Tr1skel1on

Well what can you expect from cheap chicken. You get what you pay for. Personally my chickens are complaining about flockdown and haven't laid an egg for weeks. But they are very happy

I didn't think it was that cheap at full price at £5 per portion which is why I thought it could be free range. If it was a 99p ready meal I would take your point and wouldn't have even bothered checking.

It stinks as well. All the cuts of meat they use are really cheap.

No I wouldn't expect the Hello Fresh chicken to be free range. It's a cheaper meal box. Mindful Chef and Gousto are both more expensive.

This is the statement I found on their website that originally lulled me into a false sense of free range security.

Obviously it is my own fault for not noticing it was the NZ version of their site but it does seem slightly bizarre that this sentiment applies there but not here.