Meal Kit Delivery: Is It Right For You?
The meal kit delivery services market will generate $1.5 billion in sales in 2016. It’s not hard to figure out why. Our busy lives demand convenience. And whether it’s to curb spending, eat healthier or just to eat something other than burgers and burritos, meal kit deliveries can save time, money and sometimes even a calorie or two.
We curated information from a few popular services to give you an idea of prices and plans. A few offer free meals with your first delivery.
The price for two people for three meals (per week) is $59.99 (six total servings at roughly $10 per serving). The family plan for either two or four meals (eight total servings) is $69.92 ($8.74 per serving). The shipping is free.
The Plan:
Blue Apron lets you choose a plan and which day of the week your refrigerated box will arrive. You can also choose your recipes for each week. When you sign up, your box is scheduled for weekly delivery, but you can skip a week or cancel at any time.
Blue Apron offers interactive recipe pages, how-to videos and recipes like Furikake-Topped Salmon and Chicken Katsu that are 500-800 calories per meal. Blue Apron also offers a wine club in conjunction with the meals with wines paired to the meals you order.
The price for two is $69.00 for three meals per week, or six total servings ($11.50 per serving). The veggie box for two is $59.99 for three meals (six total servings at $9.99 per serving). Or, there’s the family box at $105.00 for three meals that serve four people. All are shipped free.
The Plan:
TV Chef Jamie Oliver
Hello Fresh doesn’t prompt you to choose specific meals. Instead you must manually configure your settings to swap out scheduled meals each week for different options (there are five to choose from). Hello Fresh is a flex subscription service, so you can skip a week and cancel at any time. Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has partnered with Hello Fresh and create some of the recipes, like Moroccan Chicken and Sticky Asian-style Salmon and Broccoli.
The price for two servings is $25; for four servings, $50; for eight servings, $90 and for 12 servings, $130 – all with free shipping.
The Plan:
With Peach Dish, you can choose the number of meals you want and how many servings (two minimum). Each meal includes a main, side and vegetable, which is different than some other services which deliver one-dish meals. Customers can subscribe or order a week at a time. Recent menu items to choose from included Chicken and Rutabaga Stew with Rosemary and Stuffed Trout, Roasted Pears and Mashed Sweet Potatoes.
The price for two meals for two people (per week) is $48 for four total servings ($12 per serving). Three meals for two is $72 for six total servings ($12 per serving) and for four meals for two is $96 for eight total servings ($12 per serving). A two-meal box costs $6 to ship, while all larger boxes ship for free.
The Plan:
At Plated, you log on every week to choose meals from a weekly menu of six dinner options and two desserts. It’s a weekly subscription, but you can change plans, skip a week or cancel at any time. Recent recipes included Roasted Squash Pizza with Ricotta and Balsamic Glaze and Chicken Parmesan with Roasted Cauliflower.
The price for Home Chef meals is $9.95 per serving per meal, or $4.95 for smoothies and fruit selections. They offer free shipping when you order three or more meals, or else shipping is $10 (but often free with promotions).
The Plan:
Upon signing up, you choose how many meals to receive each week (from two to seven) and how many servings of each (either two or four) and are charged per serving. You can change your plan at any time. Home Chef has 10 weekly dinner options to choose from. When you sign up, you’re asked questions about eating habits, favorites and allergies which the system uses to recommend meals.
The price for two people for three meals or six total servings is $68 ($11.33 per serving). For four people, two meals and a total of eight servings is $74 ($9.25 per serving). Both options offer free shipping.
The Plan:
Mark Bittman, former food columnist at the New York Times, creates the all-vegan recipes which are curated for you with no option to exchange. It is a flex subscription service, so you can skip a week or cancel your plan whenever you want. Recipes offered this month included Walnut-Crusted Cauliflower Steak with Pumpkin Campanelle and Sweet and Sour Noodles with Fennel and Pineapple.
Price and Plan:
With a menu of more than 40 dinner options, meals start at $9.99 per serving (Vegetarian Rainbow Kabobs) up to $17.99 per serving (Asian Beef and Broccoli). Free shipping is offered with a minimum order. In this kit, veggies are pre-chopped and sauces and seasonings are mixed and packaged. Terra’s Kitchen may not be for the person who enjoys the prep part of cooking, but for the busy family or couple, it sounds perfect. This service also recycles shipping materials.
Meal Kit Delivery Reviews
Reviews of the meals on Forbes.com, Observer and Buzzfeed offer opinions about taste and service, complexity of recipes and mention a few more newcomers to the market. Some not only tested the recipes, they shopped the groceries and ingredients to compare price information.
The Good Life
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