Are Meal Kits Worth it?

Are meal kits worth it?

Meal kits, that is boxes delivered to your door containing individual ingredients together with a recipe, have become increasingly popular over the past couple of years. They are a great alternative to weekly cooking and shopping, especially if you are getting tired of making the same meals over and over. Making it easy to hit the stove running, they are great for people who enjoy the process of cooking but are happy to skip planning their meals and shopping for ingredients. In the UK, there are quite a few to pick from. This overview provides a quick comparison of meal kits available on the UK market. Make sure to use our comparison tool for a recommendation suited to your needs and values.

In light of the current cost-of-living crisis, the affordability of meal kits and their value for money comes into question. So, as of autumn 2022, are meal kits actually worth it?

Our regular blog series will tackle this questions over the next few months. To get a bit of a pre-view and so that you can make up your own mind in the meantime, we have created the following overview of the main meal kits available on the market:

As you can see, Hello Fresh and Gousto are very similar in terms of price and our environmental/social responsibility score. In terms of reach, Gousto won't reach you in as many places as Hello Fresh or Mindful Chef. Both Gousto and Hello Fresh offer the same deal on the first delivery (60% off as of October 2022), with Mindful Chef being slightly more on the pricey side. With 25% off the first order, Mindful Chef introductory offer is not as generous as Gousto or Hello Fresh. If you value environmental and social responsibility, Mindful Chef will however come out as the winner as they take this stuff very seriously. So the verdict? If you are looking to save money, Hello Fresh or Gousto will have you covered. With their introductory offer, 5 meals for 2 people works out at £23. If you are looking to do something good for the planet and the society while having your meals sorted for you, you might want to try Mindful Chef.

The real question is whether meal kits will stand up to the test when comparing their value without any introductory discounts to buying the ingredients individually yourself. To answer that question, stay tuned for a more personal account of how Hello Fresh recipes compare to buying ingredients separately in a shop which is coming up soon!