Results 1 to 15 of 15

Thread: Hello Fresh - Have\would you try it?

  1. #1
    Senior Member AGTDenton's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    Bracknell
    Posts
    2,698
    Thanks
    984
    Thanked
    828 times in 542 posts
    • AGTDenton's system
      • Motherboard:
      • MSI MEG X570S ACE MAX
      • CPU:
      • AMD 5950x
      • Memory:
      • 32GB Corsair something or the other
      • Storage:
      • 1x 512GB nvme, 1x 2TB nvme, 2x 8TB HDD
      • Graphics card(s):
      • ASUS 3080 Ti TuF
      • PSU:
      • Corsair RM850x
      • Case:
      • Fractal Design Torrent White
      • Operating System:
      • 11 Pro x64
      • Internet:
      • Fibre

    Hello Fresh - Have\would you try it?

    Something that keeps coming up on social media, mainly Youtube, is sponsorships for Hello Fresh.
    I don't tend to click on adverts but this annoyingly grabbed my interest.

    Having downloaded the app but not used them yet, I can get a good idea of what they're trying to do.

    They have a load of recipes to browse & you save the ones you like, there's 100s, then you order up to 5 days worth of your favourite recipes and have the correct amount of ingredients delivered for each one. And finally follow the cooking instructions for whichever you choose to eat.

    I like the idea because it's not precooked meals you're just shoving in the microwave/oven, it encourages you to try different meals that perhaps you wouldn't think about cooking in the past plus you have to physically prepare and cook it.


    I'm going to be in quarantine for a minimum of 6 months regardless of what Covid is doing due to a health problem I picked up.
    Hopefully towards the 2nd half of those 6 months I'll actually be able to start cooking myself again. This type of service seems ideal on paper, much better than the supermarket delivery systems, which I hear are abysmal. Food out of date, wrong items, or all going out of date a couple of days after receiving it.

    Has anyone used Hello Fresh, whats the use by dates like on them, how have you found the service?
    Or if you've used a different website with a similar idea how has that been?

    I have to say while I don't like the idea of feeding Bezos's wallet, Amazons fresh & normal grocery have been brilliant whilst I've been quarantined. Never a thing wrong, late, missing or some silly first come first served ordering system, and it's a same day delivery. How supermarkets have failed at all of those considering they started in the 90s I don't know.

    Another couple of services I like the look of is Musclefood & boxxfresh.
    Last edited by AGTDenton; 23-10-2020 at 04:34 PM.

  2. #2
    MCRN Tachi Ttaskmaster's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Location
    Reading, UK
    Posts
    6,917
    Thanks
    673
    Thanked
    806 times in 668 posts
    • Ttaskmaster's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Aorus Master X670E
      • CPU:
      • Ryzen 7800X3D
      • Memory:
      • 32GB Corsair Dominator DDR5 6000MHz
      • Storage:
      • Samsung Evo 120GB and Seagate Baracuda 2TB
      • Graphics card(s):
      • Aorus Master 4090
      • PSU:
      • EVGA Supernova G2 1000W
      • Case:
      • Lian Li V3000 Plus
      • Operating System:
      • Win11
      • Monitor(s):
      • Gigabyte M32U
      • Internet:
      • 900Mbps Gigaclear WHOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

    Re: Hello Fresh - Have\would you try it?

    Not tried that one, but the Ttaskmistress has an account with Abel & Cole that she occasionally still uses.
    It's expensive and, while you do get to try ingredients and meals that you'd not normally even think about, they're often not things you can pick up on a regular basis from either them or the supermarket.
    It also locks you into those recipes and those ingredients in those quantities, so if you do like cooking and one day fancy whipping up a nice wild mushroom risotto or a tasty stroganoff, you'll find you're spit outta luck and stuck with purple sprouting broccoli or some weird root veg you've never even heard of.

    Being a Bracknell lad, I imagine you're within the same delivery area as us for Sainsbury's, Waitrose and Ocado, all of which we've tried and found quite reasonable.
    You might get the occasional substitution and the occasional short-dated (ie 2-3 days left) thing among the fresh stuff like bread or veg, but they'll tell you ahead of delivery and you can reject it free of charge.
    Never had a single wrong item or a single thing actually out of date, from any of them.
    Worth giving a try, at least.
    _______________________________________________________________________
    Quote Originally Posted by Mark Tyson
    like a chihuahua urinating on a towering inferno...

  3. Received thanks from:

    AGTDenton (23-10-2020)

  4. #3
    chj
    chj is offline
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Posts
    301
    Thanks
    23
    Thanked
    14 times in 11 posts
    • chj's system
      • Motherboard:
      • ASUS P6X58D-E
      • CPU:
      • Intel I7 950
      • Memory:
      • 12GB DDR3
      • Storage:
      • SATA SSD/HDD combo
      • Graphics card(s):
      • NVIDIA GTX 780Ti

    Re: Hello Fresh - Have\would you try it?

    What's the price comparison compared to buying from the supermarket like? It sounds appealing because if you're just cooking for yourself it's hard not to waste ingredients left over.

    I find supermarket delivery sufficient, there are substitutions but Asda always have the necessities I need. Also if you book in a regular delivery slot now, come Christmas you'll still have it whilst it'll probably be impossible closer to the time to get one.

  5. Received thanks from:

    AGTDenton (23-10-2020)

  6. #4
    Editable... jimbouk's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Bristol
    Posts
    3,069
    Thanks
    319
    Thanked
    278 times in 226 posts
    • jimbouk's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asrock B450M-HDV R4.0
      • CPU:
      • AMD Ryzen 5 3600
      • Memory:
      • Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4 3200 MHz C16
      • Storage:
      • Sabrent Rocket Q 1TB NVMe PCIe M.2 2280
      • Graphics card(s):
      • Sapphire Pulse RX 580 8GB
      • PSU:
      • Seasonic Core Gold GC-650
      • Case:
      • Lian-Li PC-V1100 ATX
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 10 Pro
      • Monitor(s):
      • AOC CU34G2/BK 34" Widescreen
      • Internet:
      • EE FTC

    Re: Hello Fresh - Have\would you try it?

    A friend got us a voucher for cook when we had our little lad (https://www.cookfood.net/) - not cooking fresh but good to have as a treat once a week when you were to tired to cook and a step up from takeaway food imho.

    We have also tried a few (fruit &) veg box places. Some I disliked due to them making a show of how muddy their potatoes were, some due to the 'local' salad traveling 100s of miles in plastic bags, and some just kept sending us beeping kiwis! But it was mostly just the lack of flexibility to cook what you wanted. First world problems having to use mostly seasonal produce, but there's only so much root veg soup I want to make to use it all up...

    Supermarket deliveries (post silly season) have been pretty good though. Only the more specific things get a non-suitable substitution. Well worth trying each one to see which works best for you locally, probably a money of deal for new customers available as well. We do Tesco currently due to the lacto free range, website isn't the best but otherwise no troubles.

  7. Received thanks from:

    AGTDenton (23-10-2020)

  8. #5
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2016
    Posts
    3,895
    Thanks
    935
    Thanked
    971 times in 717 posts

    Re: Hello Fresh - Have\would you try it?

    Have we tried it? No.

    Would we? If, but probably only if, we had no choice. So far, we have not been forced to, and given that, would much rather go to our preferred shops and pick what we want ourselves.

    That said, not everybody has that option, and not everybody would make that choice if they did. But no, we probably won't use. I'm no chef, but I'm good enough to normally be able to work out a week's meal plan, buy what we need and use oddments and whatever is laying around, for a casserole, curry or whatever, or freeze tings for later.

    What I don't need it to be buying a carrot, three onions and four potatoes 'cos that's what their recipes require. Not only that, we often plan meals based on what's available. Or don't plan them at all and knock up something quick.
    A lesson learned from PeterB about dignity in adversity, so Peter, In Memorium, "Onwards and Upwards".

  9. Received thanks from:

    AGTDenton (24-10-2020),CAT-THE-FIFTH (24-10-2020)

  10. #6
    Missed by us all - RIP old boy spacein_vader's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    Darkest Northamptonshire
    Posts
    2,015
    Thanks
    184
    Thanked
    1,086 times in 410 posts
    • spacein_vader's system
      • Motherboard:
      • MSI B450 Tomahawk Max
      • CPU:
      • Ryzen 5 3600
      • Memory:
      • 2x8GB Patriot Steel DDR4 3600mhz
      • Storage:
      • 1tb Sabrent Rocket NVMe (boot), 500GB Crucial MX100, 1TB Crucial MX200
      • Graphics card(s):
      • Gigabyte Radeon RX5700 Gaming OC
      • PSU:
      • Corsair HX 520W modular
      • Case:
      • Fractal Design Meshify C
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 10 Pro
      • Monitor(s):
      • BenQ GW2765, Dell Ultrasharp U2412
      • Internet:
      • Zen Internet

    Re: Hello Fresh - Have\would you try it?

    I used to work for Riverford (veg box company,) left in 2012 but my bias may show even if they did make me redundant.

    They did mostly veg boxes but began to experiment with these meal boxes as a Scandinavian equivalent had done well with them. They got employees to try them before going public and the meals were good, bit the issues for me were:

    1. It costs more to create meals this way that buying the same ingredients, even if you were buying them in the "normal" amounts from the same company.

    2. You had to stick exactly to the recipe. I tend to add a little more chilli or a little less cheese or whatever I think a recipe needs to work for me. Cooking is an art not a science in my mind.

    That said they were aimed at those who are "cash rich, time poor" and provided good and usually healthy meals. They have a place but they're not for me.

    Selling veg boxes is a challenge particularly around the hungry gap in March and April where the winter crops have finished and the spring ones haven't kicked in yet. For every complaint about yet more chard and artichokes there was another bemoaning french cabbages.

  11. Received thanks from:

    AGTDenton (24-10-2020)

  12. #7
    Senior Member AGTDenton's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    Bracknell
    Posts
    2,698
    Thanks
    984
    Thanked
    828 times in 542 posts
    • AGTDenton's system
      • Motherboard:
      • MSI MEG X570S ACE MAX
      • CPU:
      • AMD 5950x
      • Memory:
      • 32GB Corsair something or the other
      • Storage:
      • 1x 512GB nvme, 1x 2TB nvme, 2x 8TB HDD
      • Graphics card(s):
      • ASUS 3080 Ti TuF
      • PSU:
      • Corsair RM850x
      • Case:
      • Fractal Design Torrent White
      • Operating System:
      • 11 Pro x64
      • Internet:
      • Fibre

    Re: Hello Fresh - Have\would you try it?

    Thank you all, some very useful points. Gives food for thought

    Quote Originally Posted by Ttaskmaster View Post
    Not tried that one, but the Ttaskmistress has an account with Abel & Cole that she occasionally still uses.
    It's expensive and, while you do get to try ingredients and meals that you'd not normally even think about, they're often not things you can pick up on a regular basis from either them or the supermarket.
    It also locks you into those recipes and those ingredients in those quantities, so if you do like cooking and one day fancy whipping up a nice wild mushroom risotto or a tasty stroganoff, you'll find you're spit outta luck and stuck with purple sprouting broccoli or some weird root veg you've never even heard of.

    Being a Bracknell lad, I imagine you're within the same delivery area as us for Sainsbury's, Waitrose and Ocado, all of which we've tried and found quite reasonable.
    You might get the occasional substitution and the occasional short-dated (ie 2-3 days left) thing among the fresh stuff like bread or veg, but they'll tell you ahead of delivery and you can reject it free of charge.
    Never had a single wrong item or a single thing actually out of date, from any of them.
    Worth giving a try, at least.
    I vaguely remember visiting Abel & Cole a long time ago without any intent. I think they were one of the first in the UK.

    Admittedly my experience with Tesco & Sainsbury's is actually from Windsor, so Sainsbury's from Staines Upon Thames (to give it it's new title ) and Tesco from Dedworth. Both are appauling. I've not tried from Bracknell yet, I just assumed with 2 different companies being bad from different areas they were all bad. I might head straight to Ocado, they seem pretty impressive without shouting about it. I never realised just how big they were until recently. Also the scotch eggs from M&S are divine if they're selling them on there.

    I'll still give these others a go, they tickle my interests & I can see if it suits my needs come the time.

    Quote Originally Posted by jimbouk View Post
    A friend got us a voucher for cook when we had our little lad (https://www.cookfood.net/) - not cooking fresh but good to have as a treat once a week when you were to tired to cook and a step up from takeaway food imho.
    As it happens our local Coop has a lot of their freezer range. I tried them once and all very good, but small portions for the ones designed for 1. It was expensive, I remember coming out thinking I haven't really got much.
    But I think being in the Coop which is high prices anyway it adds a double whammy.

  13. #8
    Moosing about! CAT-THE-FIFTH's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Not here
    Posts
    32,039
    Thanks
    3,910
    Thanked
    5,224 times in 4,015 posts
    • CAT-THE-FIFTH's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Less E-PEEN
      • CPU:
      • Massive E-PEEN
      • Memory:
      • RGB E-PEEN
      • Storage:
      • Not in any order
      • Graphics card(s):
      • EVEN BIGGER E-PEEN
      • PSU:
      • OVERSIZED
      • Case:
      • UNDERSIZED
      • Operating System:
      • DOS 6.22
      • Monitor(s):
      • NOT USUALLY ON....WHEN I POST
      • Internet:
      • FUNCTIONAL

    Re: Hello Fresh - Have\would you try it?

    TBH,I would just look for some recipes and source my own ingredients. That way you probably can experiment a bit more,and it also costs less when you buy ingredients in larger quantities.

  14. #9
    Spreadie
    Guest

    Re: Hello Fresh - Have\would you try it?

    A workmate signed up to Hello Fresh on a promo deal, for a month I think, which made it really cheap.

    He says the quality and variety is very good, but not good enough to justify the full price.

  15. #10
    Missed by us all - RIP old boy spacein_vader's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    Darkest Northamptonshire
    Posts
    2,015
    Thanks
    184
    Thanked
    1,086 times in 410 posts
    • spacein_vader's system
      • Motherboard:
      • MSI B450 Tomahawk Max
      • CPU:
      • Ryzen 5 3600
      • Memory:
      • 2x8GB Patriot Steel DDR4 3600mhz
      • Storage:
      • 1tb Sabrent Rocket NVMe (boot), 500GB Crucial MX100, 1TB Crucial MX200
      • Graphics card(s):
      • Gigabyte Radeon RX5700 Gaming OC
      • PSU:
      • Corsair HX 520W modular
      • Case:
      • Fractal Design Meshify C
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 10 Pro
      • Monitor(s):
      • BenQ GW2765, Dell Ultrasharp U2412
      • Internet:
      • Zen Internet

    Re: Hello Fresh - Have\would you try it?

    Quote Originally Posted by AGTDenton View Post
    Thank you all, some very useful points. Gives food for thought


    I vaguely remember visiting Abel & Cole a long time ago without any intent. I think they were one of the first in the UK.
    They used to be good, when I worked for aforementioned similarly long-established competitior they were bought out by William Jackson Food Group, the same people behind the Aunt Bessies frozen yorkshire pudding brand. Make of that what you will.

  16. #11
    ALT0153™ Rob_B's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Posts
    6,736
    Thanks
    468
    Thanked
    1,055 times in 687 posts

    Re: Hello Fresh - Have\would you try it?

    Hello Fresh and Gousto are 'ok', more expensive than buying ingredients yourself of course however convenient if you don't want to have to think but still want to cook fresh stuff. Dates on the food was always OK with both. Recipe choice can be a bit hit and miss some weeks.

    There are always referral codes floating around, we had a few boxes from both pretty cheap and we still use a good number of the recipe cards on a regular basis but we now buy our own stuff as the cost vs DIY was a big factor (a well stocked spice cupboard is a great investment!)

    Worth a punt if you can jump on one of the 'first x boxes half price' or similar deals but I (personally) wouldn't use them long term once you've got all the recipes you want to try.

  17. Received thanks from:

    AGTDenton (25-10-2020)

  18. #12
    Registered+
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Posts
    20
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    1 time in 1 post

    Re: Hello Fresh - Have\would you try it?

    I've used Hello Fresh with discount codes.

    I do like them. The food is decent and the recipes are interesting and varied.

    I just can't justify the cost.

  19. Received thanks from:

    AGTDenton (12-11-2020)

  20. #13
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Nov 2020
    Posts
    3
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    1 time in 1 post

    Re: Hello Fresh - Have\would you try it?

    I've used both Hello Fresh and Gousto.
    Eventually I got stuck with Gousto as they had a bigger menu with more variety back then.
    I only cook on Sat and Sun, so am getting a single meal box every week.

  21. Received thanks from:

    AGTDenton (12-11-2020)

  22. #14
    Registered+
    Join Date
    Nov 2020
    Posts
    27
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    1 time in 1 post

    Re: Hello Fresh - Have\would you try it?

    Im tempted to try, friends use them a fair amount and rave. I love cooking, I just get stuck for ideas or end up putting similar tastes in dishes as I never stick to recipes.

    Feel it would be good for me too have it once a week or so to stick to a recipe and have everything.

  23. #15
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Dec 2020
    Posts
    5
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts

    Re: Hello Fresh - Have\would you try it?

    Not that good

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •