In all honesty, I was a little hesitant from the beginning due to the reviews, but I was pretty desperate so really wanted to give it a shot!
From the very beginning Hello Fresh kind of let me down. (Don't worry, there ARE also positive things as well. I will explain ALL). But, their website is TERRIBLE! It was so incredibly slow and kept freezing up! I had a hard time scrolling through to order the meals just because it took FOREVER! So I downloaded their app! It literally kept crashing my phone! I thought maybe it was just MY phone?!?! Apparently not. According to the reviews, a lot of people had this same problem. I hope they fix this, as it definitely deterred me and caused me to look into other companies!
Some of the reviews said their delivery was (days) late. Ours was on our doorstep when we got home from work on Monday. So, that was nice. (Both weeks). But we also live in a fairly large city, so that may help?
Then the food itself: Many reviews said the produce/food was rotten. So I kind of expected it (but hoped for the best). Unfortunately the reviews were also correct with this. Our second meal on Wednesday had zucchini that had very obviously been frozen, and had the ring on the inside but they were also very clearly old! There were a few other items that were not fresh, but not a huge deal. However, something very disturbing was some soy sauce for a meal our second week was expired! I am debating contacting them about that... (I'll try to post pictures).
On both a positive and negative side, one of the meals took way less time to prepare than what it stated, but a couple of the meals took a lot more time than was stated. All, however, were very reasonable.
Is it enough?? Another question asked a lot on the reviews, etc... For those of y'all that know us, you know that my boys eat A LOT!!! I joke that they will eat me bankrupt! And, the answer to this question is a big YES! They say the portions are for two adults (I was worried since most days my oldest will eat more than a grown adult male!!), but most days we even had enough leftovers for lunch the next day (for 1-2).
I know all of y'all want to know about the dent to your pocketbook.... I began with a $40 off coupon so the first week (3 meals for 2 adults) with shipping was only $20. The second week, however, was about $60 with shipping. (If y'all want a coupon I currently have two coupons left for a FREE week, and a few more for $40 off. Just let me know). The way I look at it though, is that I spend about the same (maybe more) on food and produce and then forget I have it and it goes bad (but that could be just me?!?! 😁). But, either way, it's not too much more (maybe even less) than buying the food myself for a week of meals. And, it's worth it to me just for the fact that I don't have to go to the grocery store every week (or few days)!!
On a positive side. ALL of the meals were very yummy. Even my boys (6 &7) whom can be very picky loved most of the veggies and all meals but one! Although I am excited to try Sun Basket next week (a lot more options, including vegetarian, gluten-free, paleo, and all organic), I am definitely hooked now! It has been so very nice to not stress about when I'm going to be able to go grocery shopping, and of course (literally) dragging two kids along! And, it's opened up my recipe selection/options! And, encouraged (aka forced) me to actually cook good meals for my family :)
So, although, overall, I'm not entirely impressed with Hello Fresh, I WILL be using it occasionally (hoping for a better experience with Sun Basket though). And, I have definitely enjoyed the experience.
