6 ms·

I and my wife have given month-long trials to HelloFresh, HomeChef, and Blue Apron. We stayed with HelloFresh longest; its recipes suited us (we added a couple

by fernly 10y ago

I and my wife have given month-long trials to HelloFresh, HomeChef, and Blue Apron. We stayed with HelloFresh longest; its recipes suited us (we added a couple of their dishes to our family repertoire and use them regularly). Blue Apron's recipes seemed too complicated and I don't remember what we didn't like about HomeChef, probably meal choice generally. Something not noted in the linked article is that all three let you select your 3 or 4 meals from a wider menu with at least 6 choices. So if you don't like sweet potatoes, as someone noted here, you could usually avoid them. The linked article ends with what is probably the most common knock on all these companies: the uncomfortable feeling that the packaging is a huge first-world-privileged waste of resources. For example: if a recipe calls for balsamic vinegar, there will be one little plastic bottle containing 1.5oz of balsamic with a twist-off metal screw cap and a tiny label. Or there will be three, one-Tbsp tear-open foil packets of soy sauce, or exactly two green onions in a zip-lock baggie. And so on. All the companies will claim with marginal truth that all the packaging can be recycled. The little plastic bottle goes in the blue bin. The baggies go in your plastic-film bag (if your recycler takes plastic film). You break down the big cardboard box and fold that into the bin. But for temperature control the box is lined with an insulating blanket. That's usually a "space-blanket" type foil and plastic thing that is not recyclable, or else it's an inch-thick paper-and-jute blanket that you can put in with your garden-trimmings green bin. And the freeze bags! Two or three plastic bags of frozen gel. You have to drop them in the bathtub and let them thaw, which takes hours (they are very effective), then you can cut them open, pour the gel into the toilet and flush it, and only then put the deflated bag into the plastic-film bag for recycling (if supported). That's a lot of work to assuage first-world-privilege guilt. It's the main reason we finally gave up on the real convenience and interest of the meal services.

mdesq 10y ago
Packaging is exactly my main issue with these as well (HelloFresh has been our favorite too). I go to the local farmers' market every weekend and could go to another nearby one more frequently; I wish someone would coordinate the recipes, instructions, and quantities from local ingredients. I'd happily pay extra to just pick up the raw ingredients collected together with some instruction sheets on what to make when.
- fernly 10y ago
  They could cut some of the packaging by requiring the user to have a wider range of stock items. They could send you an email on Saturday saying, "to prepare your menu selection arriving Tuesday, you will need: Soy Sauce, White Wine Vinegar,..." If you have 'em, fine, if not, you have a couple of days to stock up. That would eliminate the fairy's bottles of vinegar etc. (and lower costs?). But there's no way around the insulation and frozen gel-packs, and I think they should close the loop on those and take them back. Just say, throw the gel-packs in the box with all the plastic containers, slap this label on the outside, and UPS will take the box away when they drop off next week's food.
  - karlshea 10y ago
    > I think they should close the loop on those and take them back. Just say, throw the gel-packs in the box with all the plastic containers, slap this label on the outside, and UPS will take the box away when they drop off next week's food. They do: http://origin-blog.blueapron.com/recycling-faq/ http://origin-blog.blueapron.com/recycling-faq/ You collect a couple of shipments worth of packaging, stuff it in a box, and print out a label for it from your account.
    - rspeer 10y ago
      I don't know about you, but to me, packing, label-printing, taping, and shipping a box of trash a couple of times a week, sounds like a less enjoyable chore than going grocery shopping.
    - fernly 10y ago
      I did not know this while I was a blue apron user. Thank you.
  - teekert 10y ago
    "to prepare your menu selection arriving Tuesday, you will need: Soy Sauce, White Wine Vinegar,..." If you have 'em, fine, if not, you have a couple of days to stock up. That would eliminate the fairy's bottles of vinegar etc. (and lower costs?)." That sounds like a really good idea. We also tried Hello Fresh, but indeed, many things we already owned in bigger bottles. Combine it with a lower price indeed and I wonder what it will mean for sales. By the way, our local supermarkets are also starting to make these packages of "everything you need for one meal for 2 or 4". You can also have them delivered. In general though they are much more expensive then taking the products from the shelves, but that is to be expected. Robotozation of large stores combined with self-picking up of crates of supplies can fix that too (we have that at some stores, minus the robots). Meanwhile here (in the Netherlands), you see more and more small electric vehicles delivering groceries around the city and picking up and bringing back elderly that want to shop. Things are really changing.
Baeocystin 10y ago
Just throw them out as needed. There is no shortage of appropriate dump sites, and consumer recycling across the board is only marginally worth it at best. https://www.bustle.com/articles/125641-is-recycling-worth-it-the-answer-might-surprise-you https://www.bustle.com/articles/125641-is-recycling-worth-it... (Ignore the buzzfeed-worthy title. The links within are good.) The only consumer-side materials worth recycling as things stand are aluminum, paper, & cardboard. Everything else takes more energy to recycle than it saves. (not counting specific, specialty recycling needs like lead-acid batteries or electronics. These cost significant money to recycle, but are done so for environmental reasons.)
- cardamomo 10y ago
  This is beside the parent commenter's point. They are specifically trying to avoid throwing anything away, because they feel uncomfortable with the amount of additional waste these services generate.
  - Baeocystin 10y ago
    My point is that doing so is counterproductive. Energy/carbon costs should be the driver when choosing appropriate consumer behavior, and recycling does a surprisingly poor job of keeping overall energy costs low.
    - throwaway9475 10y ago
      It's true. Most of our climate issues don't come from teeny tiny packets of soy sauce. Consumer recycling might make people feel warm and fuzzy, but remember that a few years ago BP spilled 780,000 cubic meters (780 cubic kilometers) into the Gulf of Mexico.
      - eatplayrove 10y ago
        That's not how units go however. 780,000 cubic meters is 0.00078 cubic km.
irvani 10y ago
I would love for you to try PeachDish. I started in the garage of my house. We are the best quality meal kit company in the country. We were the first to introduce a recycling program, and I think are very flexible, (One off and dinner parties) - https://www.peachdish.com/ https://www.peachdish.com/ use code hadi Thanks, Hadi, Founder PeachDish
- fernly 10y ago
  I can't tell for sure but it looks as if you are specific to the Atlanta area? I'm on the other side of the continent.

by fernly 10y ago

mdesq 10y ago

Packaging is exactly my main issue with these as well (HelloFresh has been our favorite too). I go to the local farmers' market every weekend and could go to another nearby one more frequently; I wish someone would coordinate the recipes, instructions, and quantities from local ingredients. I'd happily pay extra to just pick up the raw ingredients collected together with some instruction sheets on what to make when.

fernly 10y ago
They could cut some of the packaging by requiring the user to have a wider range of stock items. They could send you an email on Saturday saying, "to prepare your menu selection arriving Tuesday, you will need: Soy Sauce, White Wine Vinegar,..." If you have 'em, fine, if not, you have a couple of days to stock up. That would eliminate the fairy's bottles of vinegar etc. (and lower costs?). But there's no way around the insulation and frozen gel-packs, and I think they should close the loop on those and take them back. Just say, throw the gel-packs in the box with all the plastic containers, slap this label on the outside, and UPS will take the box away when they drop off next week's food.
- karlshea 10y ago
  > I think they should close the loop on those and take them back. Just say, throw the gel-packs in the box with all the plastic containers, slap this label on the outside, and UPS will take the box away when they drop off next week's food. They do: http://origin-blog.blueapron.com/recycling-faq/ http://origin-blog.blueapron.com/recycling-faq/ You collect a couple of shipments worth of packaging, stuff it in a box, and print out a label for it from your account.
  - rspeer 10y ago
    I don't know about you, but to me, packing, label-printing, taping, and shipping a box of trash a couple of times a week, sounds like a less enjoyable chore than going grocery shopping.
  - fernly 10y ago
    I did not know this while I was a blue apron user. Thank you.
- teekert 10y ago
  "to prepare your menu selection arriving Tuesday, you will need: Soy Sauce, White Wine Vinegar,..." If you have 'em, fine, if not, you have a couple of days to stock up. That would eliminate the fairy's bottles of vinegar etc. (and lower costs?)." That sounds like a really good idea. We also tried Hello Fresh, but indeed, many things we already owned in bigger bottles. Combine it with a lower price indeed and I wonder what it will mean for sales. By the way, our local supermarkets are also starting to make these packages of "everything you need for one meal for 2 or 4". You can also have them delivered. In general though they are much more expensive then taking the products from the shelves, but that is to be expected. Robotozation of large stores combined with self-picking up of crates of supplies can fix that too (we have that at some stores, minus the robots). Meanwhile here (in the Netherlands), you see more and more small electric vehicles delivering groceries around the city and picking up and bringing back elderly that want to shop. Things are really changing.

Baeocystin 10y ago

Just throw them out as needed. There is no shortage of appropriate dump sites, and consumer recycling across the board is only marginally worth it at best. https://www.bustle.com/articles/125641-is-recycling-worth-it-the-answer-might-surprise-you https://www.bustle.com/articles/125641-is-recycling-worth-it... (Ignore the buzzfeed-worthy title. The links within are good.) The only consumer-side materials worth recycling as things stand are aluminum, paper, & cardboard. Everything else takes more energy to recycle than it saves. (not counting specific, specialty recycling needs like lead-acid batteries or electronics. These cost significant money to recycle, but are done so for environmental reasons.)

cardamomo 10y ago
This is beside the parent commenter's point. They are specifically trying to avoid throwing anything away, because they feel uncomfortable with the amount of additional waste these services generate.
- Baeocystin 10y ago
  My point is that doing so is counterproductive. Energy/carbon costs should be the driver when choosing appropriate consumer behavior, and recycling does a surprisingly poor job of keeping overall energy costs low.
  - throwaway9475 10y ago
    It's true. Most of our climate issues don't come from teeny tiny packets of soy sauce. Consumer recycling might make people feel warm and fuzzy, but remember that a few years ago BP spilled 780,000 cubic meters (780 cubic kilometers) into the Gulf of Mexico.
    - eatplayrove 10y ago
      That's not how units go however. 780,000 cubic meters is 0.00078 cubic km.

irvani 10y ago

I would love for you to try PeachDish. I started in the garage of my house. We are the best quality meal kit company in the country. We were the first to introduce a recycling program, and I think are very flexible, (One off and dinner parties) - https://www.peachdish.com/ https://www.peachdish.com/ use code hadi Thanks, Hadi, Founder PeachDish

fernly 10y ago
I can't tell for sure but it looks as if you are specific to the Atlanta area? I'm on the other side of the continent.