It seems impossible to watch TV without seeing an ad for an all-inclusive meal kit delivery service. You know the ones with names like Hello Fresh and Blue Apron. You’ve probably wondered if these meal kit services are a good deal or a wasteful extravagance. The truth is, whether a meal delivery service is a smart way to spend your food budget really depends on your own lifestyle, eating habits and savings goals. Here are some pros and cons of these services to help you decide if it’s the right choice for you:
PROS
You’ll Eat at Home More
One of the biggest selling points of meal delivery services is that they allow you to prepare restaurant-level meals in your own kitchen. If you routinely dine out (or order in) several times a week, using a meal delivery service will help you save you money.
You’ll Learn New Recipes and Techniques
If you’re new to cooking or tend to make the same meals again and again, a meal delivery service will expand your horizons and help you learn new skills. All meal planning kits contain detailed recipe cards. Once you discover some new favorites, you’ll be able to recreate them (or come very close) on your own by simply purchasing the ingredients yourself.
You’ll Minimize Food Waste
If you routinely buy more groceries than you need, a meal kit delivery service will help with that. You’ll receive everything you need; and nothing you don’t. If you following the recipes correctly, you should end up with zero food waste — and zero wasted dollars, too.
You’ll need to have a few pantry staples on hand, such as cooking oil, salt & pepper, and butter. Other than that, everything you need is included with your delivery.
CONS
The Expense
While the cost of meal delivery services varies, they average out to around $10 a meal, per person. That’s more than you’d pay buying groceries on your own, but less than dining out or ordering in. Also, many of these services offer significant introductory discounts. Provided you remember to pause or cancel after the promo period, you could try out several boxes at a discount before deciding whether to continue with a service long-term.
Excess Packaging
In addition to the box everything comes in, many ingredients are packaged individually, and there are cold packs to keep the food fresh and safe. To avoid a sky-rocketing carbon footprint from disposing of all that packaging, you must be committed to recycling as much of it as possible.
You Might Not Like Every Meal
Although most services allow you to specify certain ingredients you’d rather avoid, there’s still a chance you’ll run into a meal you don’t enjoy. You’ll get the most value — and enjoyment — from these services if you have an adventurous palate and few food allergies or dietary restrictions.
Use our Living Expenses Calculator to see if meal kit delivery fits into your overall budget.
FAQs
Not having to go shopping at specialty grocery stores, having to count your own calories, or having to do extensive meal planning to know what you'll eat next are just a few ways meal delivery can make it easier to stick to a specific eating agenda.
What are the pros and cons of using a meal delivery service? ›
The Pros and Cons of Meal Kit Delivery
- You'll Eat at Home More. ...
- You'll Learn New Recipes and Techniques. ...
- You'll Minimize Food Waste. ...
- The Expense. ...
- Excess Packaging. ...
- You Might Not Like Every Meal.
Not having to go shopping at specialty grocery stores, having to count your own calories, or having to do extensive meal planning to know what you'll eat next are just a few ways meal delivery can make it easier to stick to a specific eating agenda.
What are the problems with meal kit delivery services? ›
Meal kits have several disadvantages, including cost, packaging waste, lack of control over ingredients, shipping challenges, and preparation time. These drawbacks can make meal kits less appealing to some consumers, having led to a decline in their popularity in recent years.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of ready meals? ›
Ready-to-eat meals are convenient, time-saving, and offer variety but raise concerns about poor nutrition, hidden additives, and negative environmental impact through plastic pollution, waste, and excessive energy and resource consumption.
What are the pros and cons of home delivery? ›
Most pregnant people who choose to have planned home births deliver without problems. But research suggests that planned home births are associated with a higher risk of infant death, seizures and nervous system disorders than planned hospital births.
What are two 2 advantages and two 2 disadvantages of food delivery service? ›
The pros and cons of online delivery services
- Pro: Increased exposure.
- Con: The case of the empty restaurant.
- Pro: Provides a taster for new customers.
- Con: No control over quality of delivery.
- Pro: increased business in down times.
- Con: Delivery cost may outweigh benefit.
Meal kits might also build your cooking confidence to cook more “from scratch” and to learn about new ingredients, flavour combinations and time-saving techniques. Cooking with meal kits may even cut household food waste by providing the exact amount of ingredients needed to prepare a meal.
Are meal kits successful? ›
Meal kits is one of the fastest growing categories, delivering 13% value growth in 2022 and reaching value sales of USD14 billion globally. Meal kits is also one of the few categories in the industry to see both value and volume gains globally.
How healthy are meal kits? ›
Summary. If your idea of dinner is regularly eating at a restaurant, takeout or drive-thru, then meal kit delivery services are a healthier option. Most companies offer fresh ingredients that are minimally processed and some use non-GMO and organic produce and meats.
Cost. While the cost of meal delivery could be lower than eating out, it is more expensive compared to regular grocery shopping and meal preparation. With meal kits, you pay for the convenience of the service and things like shipping costs, premium meal options, and packaging costs.
Are meal kits cheaper than takeout? ›
In some cases, meal kits and prepared meal services were more than 50% cheaper than takeout and as much as 75% less than delivery via all those fee-happy apps. Here's how I did the math and a snapshot of how much cheaper a prepared meal or meal kit subscription is than takeout or delivery in 2024. Takeout adds up.
What are the challenges of the meal kit industry? ›
The meal kit industry has faced notable changes and challenges since its birth, including increased streamlining with physical grocery stores, competition from convenience-oriented channels such as the meal kits offered at Amazon Go stores, concerns over sustainability and excessive packaging waste, labor issues, and ...
What are the cons of premade meals? ›
They either provide too much starch or none at all, some are far too high in protein and fat and the majority of them do not contain enough nutrients in the form of vegetables or salad. To top it all off, most ready-made meals come in servings that are too big, so it is important to portion them correctly.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of home made meals? ›
On the other hand, cooking at home is time consuming, labor-intensive, and it requires effort and planning. However, it allows you to control what goes into your meal, where you often know exactly what you are eating and how it was prepared, and it can ultimately lead to healthier outcomes.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of meals at restaurants? ›
Eating out once in a while offers the chance to savor new culinary experiences and let someone else do the full cleanup for you. Yet at the same time, eating out all the time can be expensive. Food prepared at restaurants can also be chock full of unhealthy fat and excess calories.
Is it cheaper to use a meal service? ›
While grocery shopping turned out to be a hair cheaper than even the cheapest meal kits, it's nearly even. If you consider the time and energy you save by forgoing long trips to the supermarket, meal kits might present the better value.
