Hello Fresh packaging

[WildAloofRebel]

I recently restarted Hello Fresh for like the 4th time and promptly remembered why I stopped 😄 my god, the waste!!! What do you do with your packaging - ice blocks and the woolly insulation things? Do they have a recycling scheme I’m not aware of? I’ve googled.

And I wish they sent bigger packets of e.g stock, puree if you’re getting a meal for 4, rather than multiple small packs.

It’s good and we’re eating fewer takeaways, but more mince 😄 it seems you can’t edit your order after maybe 4 days before delivery? so I always miss choosing my meals and they send the default options which are always mince mince mince chicken. Plus I am gluten free and prefer to be veggie, husband is carnivore and kids live off bread… is there a more versatile meal kit company that would work better or do I just need to be less difficult? 😄 I just do not have the mental capacity at the mo ugh.

I used the ice blocks to water plants and I recycle soft plastics.

They have their pros and cons and can help people who can’t cook / are stuck in a rut but I’m don’t think they are a great long term solution. Fine for you at the moment if you don’t have the capacity to shop / meal plan.

You're lucky they sent you mince and chicken dishes. I'm so pissed off with myself as we forgot to select this week and we've been allocated some bollocks options, including a bland bean stew and a cheese and spinach penne that you could make for about £2.50. (Cough cough, if you raise it with them and ask to cancel, they may offer you an incentive to stay 😜)

Completely agree about the packaging. So many plastic sachets and wrapping. I haven't found anything to do with the ice blocks yet, but the soft packaging is great if you're sending fragile parcels. Years ago they used to send large packets of the staple ingredients and you'd have leftovers for other dishes. It's a big skimp and loads of packaging nowadays.

I tried "Simply Cook". They are small boxes (that go through the letterbox) with ready-mixed pastes, spices & herbs that are kept at ambient temp.

They include recipes with a list of ingredients needed, so you add your own protein, veg & carb. I thought they were very good.

I bought them to encourage DH to increase his repertoire, but he wasn't interested, so I stopped as I don't need them.

Oh good glad it’s not just me! Good idea re plant-watering, I’ll do that. And will look at Simply Cook!

I've used the soft packaging to line the hedgehog house ready for winter 🥶 ❄️ (soft wooly stuff??) 😂

If anyone has any of the woolly insulation padding and lives near Brighton area, I would love to re-use it to insulate a cat house.

The woolly stuff makes excellent filter material in fish tanks. We re-use the ice blocks many times.

I think the gousto packaging is better, the chilled section is recyclable

But I didn't like the meals as much!

I put a weekly reminder in my phone to pick meals, always 3 weeks ahead for the best choice.