Do they have products like Hello Fresh, Blue Apron, and Sun Basket in the UK?

[TheBigNewt]

We've tried all 3 in the States. In case you aren't familiar these are individual meals for 2 that come in a box or paper bag, with all the ingredients measured out, appropriate size produce and meat, spices, etc. All you need are the pans and olive oil and butter and water. Recipe cards with pix and instructions and ingredients (in case you want to make it again yourself). No meal is ever offered again, and you have between 5 (Hello Fresh) and 12 (Sun Basket) meals to choose from. Sun Basket has vegetarian and paleo choices too. Organic produce, seems fresher than our local Safeway or Walmart offerings. They take 30-45 min to prepare so it's not a frozen dinner by any means. We really like them, it eliminates a lot of running to the grocery store, and we don't end up throwing out rotten parsley and onions and stuff. The paleo meals are low carb of course which is nice for diabetics. They use cauliflower rice quite a bit, which I had never eaten. Anyway I was just curious as to what similar options were available on your side of the pond.

 

[Avocado Sevenfold]

I was gifted a Hello Fresh veggie box once. It was a one-off and not a subscription. Nice present, but I quite enjoy going to food shops to look for new things so would not be interested in a weekly delivery.

 

[Chook]

A lot of our supermarkets over here deliver and I've seen diet meals that can be delivered. Not those brands though.

 

[Avocado Sevenfold]

A lot of our supermarkets over here deliver and I've seen diet meals that can be delivered. Not those brands though.

The box I got contained raw veg, herbs and recipe cards rather than ready meals. A DIY kit.

 

[Chook]

@Avocado Sevenfold Is it an urban thing because i'm up in very rural Yorkshire and we never get any of the good stuff. Apart from some spectacular countryside.

 

[azure]

I just use home delivery. I've got offers from Hello Fresh but it's an expensive way to eat, and with home deliveries from all the major supermarkets there's no need to go to the shops if you don't have time. Many of their websites have menu planners too.

 

[mist]

I just use home delivery. I've got offers from Hello Fresh but it's an expensive way to eat, and with home deliveries from all the major supermarkets there's no need to go to the shops if you don't have time. Many of their websites have menu planners too.

Great for us agoraphobes

 

[azure]

Great for us agoraphobes

Great for busy people too - and when it's pouring with rain!

Seriously though, for people who struggle at the shops or are in rural areas without transport, it's fantastic. I don't remember the last time I did a supermarket shop at a supermarket myself.

 

[TheBigNewt]

So it sounds like at least you have that option in the UK. Like I said all the produce, protein (beef, fish, chicken), spices, sauces, eggs, whatever's in the recipe is in the box. We have to slice and dice it and cook it. Cost is $70
USD for 3 boxes which is about 8 meals on average. We also have groceries that deliver but ours is only a mile away. What we like is the different recipes all the time, and no wasting food. With only 2 of us we may have tossed out more produce than we actually consumed. True, you can buy the ingredients at the store for less money than they charge, but not a LOT less. We save the fave meal cards and make those again. Nice to have new recipes all the time.

 

[azure]

$70 for 8 meals sounds pricey to me. How would that compare with your local,supermarket?

 

[Avocado Sevenfold]

@Avocado Sevenfold Is it an urban thing because i'm up in very rural Yorkshire and we never get any of the good stuff. Apart from some spectacular countryside.

Good question. Their website might tell you if they go to your neck of the woods https://www.hellofresh.co.uk/tasty/ I am sure I have seen them advertise on telly recently.

 

[TheBigNewt]

$70 for 8 meals sounds pricey to me. How would that compare with your local,supermarket?

Well we could probably buy the same ingredients for maybe 33% to 40% less at a cheaper food store. If we went to a place like Whole Foods (more expensive produce, organic) not so much. Their hype compares it to eating out or getting takeout, which is pretty similar to what you get from them. It's cheaper than restaurant food for sure.

 

[azure]

Maybe it's ok if you're not on a budget

I would personally resent paying so much for things I could get from my local supermarket even I did have the money to afford it, but I'm sure some people like it.

 

[AndBreathe]

Personally, I use home delivery when I've very busy, and always when returning from an overseas trip, so that I don't have to go shopping with jetlag. The balance of the time, I go and choose my food. I like to choose my vegetables, so that I am sure I buy the quality and quantity I want, rather than the quality or amount some soulless person decrees is correct for us.

I can see where someone is learning to cook, from a no-skill, or low-skilled starting point, such kits could be useful to learn how to prepare food or how flavours come together to make the final result.

As for wastage? That surely is down to the individual. If you know there are only two eating butternut squash, or onions or whatever, it makes sense not to big a ginagerous squash and to buy one or two onions, not a big bag.

Using those companies on a regular basis feels to me like delegating responsibility for your food and nutrition to others.

 

[TheBigNewt]

Sure I get what you say. But in our supermarkets you have to buy a whole "bunch" of cilantro, scallions, of parsley, a $2 plastic container of basil or thyme or rosemary. They just give you enough for that meal. And the quality of produce of Hello Fresh is superior to what we can get at our local Safeway. In Britain you may be closer to farms where it's grown but not us. It's trucked in from California or somewhere. And like I said the meals are refreshingly original most times. We've been using them for about a year and almost never go "yuck".
We're not on much of a budget these days lol.

 

[azure]

I think we're lucky to have an excellent choice of foods from supermarkets here and also from smaller local shops and suppliers The last small bunch of parsley I bought was around 15p from a local greengrocer. I just bought what I needed.

Edited to,add that I think 15p is around 19cents

 

[Diakat]

We have Hello Fresh and Gousto in the UK. Never used them as they seem expensive and time consuming and not much use when we all eat different meals...

 

[TheBigNewt]

I think we're lucky to have an excellent choice of foods from supermarkets here and also from smaller local shops and suppliers The last small bunch of parsley I bought was around 15p from a local greengrocer. I just bought what I needed.

Edited to,add that I think 15p is around 19cents

Well you're fortunate to live so close to where they grow it. We grow rosemary and thyme and now parsley year round, basil and tomatoes some squash in summer. But at the store you have to buy $1 worth of that stuff at a time and usually it's about 2 days away from spoiling so most of it goes in the trash unfortunately. Sun Basket stuff is fresher when we get the box in the mail. It lasts for at least 4-5 days in the fridge. And the meals are really healthy. Paleo usually. Works for us.

 

[kittypoker]

We've tried all 3 in the States. In case you aren't familiar these are individual meals for 2 that come in a box or paper bag, with all the ingredients measured out, appropriate size produce and meat, spices, etc. All you need are the pans and olive oil and butter and water. Recipe cards with pix and instructions and ingredients (in case you want to make it again yourself). No meal is ever offered again, and you have between 5 (Hello Fresh) and 12 (Sun Basket) meals to choose from. Sun Basket has vegetarian and paleo choices too. Organic produce, seems fresher than our local Safeway or Walmart offerings. They take 30-45 min to prepare so it's not a frozen dinner by any means. We really like them, it eliminates a lot of running to the grocery store, and we don't end up throwing out rotten parsley and onions and stuff. The paleo meals are low carb of course which is nice for diabetics. They use cauliflower rice quite a bit, which I had never eaten. Anyway I was just curious as to what similar options were available on your side of the pond.

It's a really interesting question, and comparison. We have Hello Fresh and Gousto here but I don't use them so don't know if they offer veggie, Paleo or keto options. I assume a big 'yes' to veggie. I might use them if I was still working, though I wouldn't be at home to bring in the box of ingredients!

Now I'm retired, I mostly cook from scratch but do use products like Spice Tailor curry sauce kits. They're a bit of an illusion - you feel as if you're doing something real when it's actually all supplied for you - but there's no waste, not a tinge, and everything is measured out with nutrition values on the pack. No guesswork.

 

[ExD]

I've never seen those brands in the UK. I can see the attraction though, you get all the ingredients ready weighed, plus recipe card to make your own home cooked meal. Easy.
I take it they're carb counted as well?
What an opportunity for a young enterprising person here in the UK