What are meal delivery kits and are they worth the effort? Cooking, either you love it… or you don’t.
And whether you’re a novice or not, meal prep is quite the undertaking.
Deciding what you are going to eat, then going shopping. You have to buy the ingredients, drive home, prep the meal and finally begin the process of cooking the meal. I am tired just contemplating the entire process.
But what if you did not have too? What if you could forego this process? Are meal delivery kits worth the effort?
Meal delivery kits shipped right to your front door! Who would have thought life could be this good!
This process saves quite a bit of time. Are meal kits worth the effort? Are meal delivery kits purely a luxury, or can meal kits save you enough time if not money to be a justifiable regular expense?
A meal kit is a subscription service, food service business model where a company sends customers pre-portioned and sometimes partially-prepared food ingredients and recipes to prepare home cooked meals. A meal kit is not to be confused with convenience food, which is actually cooked and “prepared” at a kitchen facility before shipment—typically in a refrigerated container. Services that send pre-cooked meals are called meal delivery services. This subscription model has been cited as an example of the personalization of the food and beverage industry that is becoming more popular and widespread.
Each meal kit service might differ from the other, but overall, they do the same thing: Provide fresh ingredients and bring the recipes to your front door. All you have to do is cook!
You can order a few tasty meals based on your family size or number of meals you need. Then, select your delivery date
The meal delivery kit will show up on your front door step on whatever day you request well insulated with liners and cooling packs so your food should (ideally) be fresh and cold when you open it up.
Meal delivery kit services are everywhere (and for good reason!).
The global meal kit delivery services market size was valued at USD 7.60 billion in 2019 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.8% from 2020 to 2027. Homemade meals among millennials is expected to be a major factor contributing to the growth of the market.
When compared to the time it takes to find recipes, add to the shopping list, and pick those ingredients at the store, meal deliveries are clearly the more convenient option.
As far as convenience goes, meal delivery definitely takes some of the stress (and time) out of weekly meal planning and shopping. Just remember, you still need to cook the meals, and that takes time!
What are the pros and cons to meal delivery services? Are meal delivery kits worth the effort?
There will always be pros and cons to any life decision and meal delivery kits are no different.
Pros:
They allow you to free up some of your precious time
Time is a precious commodity and let’s face it, we just don’t have enough of it. After we come home from work, we just don’t have that much time left for us or time with our family and or friends. Especially if you have a family you have to care for.
Meal delivery services helps with that by easing some of the demands of running a home.
The meals come ready to cook, saving time at the recipe-planning stage, at the store and on the chopping and preparing of ingredients. Most of the meal kits are ready in 30 minutes or less, giving you hours back during the week to spend on more enjoyable tasks.
More nutritious. What are meal delivery kits and are they worth the effort?
When we’re in need of time and pressed for meal solutions, it’s easy to go back to the mountain of menus from our local fast food restaurants. The problem is that these meals are often less than healthy.
Healthy options. What are meal delivery kits and are they worth the effort?
Trying to eat healthy and avoid the temptation of not so health although yummy options every night? Most of these meal kits delight themselves in presenting nutritious alternatives, and even a diverse menu of possibilities for those with food allergies or restrictions (keto, gluten free, vegetarian, etc.).
They can also offer a helping hand for consumers to transition from eating most meals out to eating more meals at home by taking the decision making out of what’s for dinner and doing away with grocery shopping. Eating at home generally converts to a more superior diet, higher nutrient intake, and weight loss for those looking to do away with a few pounds.
They make whipping up breakfast, lunch and dinner so much more convenient—especially if you’re trying to lose weight. The food is delivered right to your door with pre-portioned ingredients and step-by-step instructions for a healthy and balanced meal.
Meal kits get you in the practice of planning ahead and cooking your own food—a tried-and-true weight loss strategy.
Portion control. What are meal delivery kits and are they worth the effort?
If you’re trying to cut back on the size of your plate at dinnertime, then this type of meal kit service could be a great way to stay on the straight and narrow.
Less waste
How many times do you buy specialty items for certain recipes and have them go bad before you can ever use them? These meal kits send perfectly portioned, pre-measured amounts of ingredients you’ll need to cook each meal.
However, fans of meal kits argue that they are good for the environment because they reduce food waste ― every kit comes with only the necessary amount of ingredients for each recipe.
In the United States, food waste is estimated at between 30-40 percent of the food supply. This estimate, based on estimates from USDA’s Economic Research Service of 31 percent food loss at the retail and consumer levels, corresponded to approximately 133 billion pounds and $161 billion worth of food in 2010.
Pre-measured ingredients cut down on over-purchasing that often results in wilted vegetables in the bottom of the fridge, contributing to America’s food waste per day.
Convenience factor
A few extra dollars spent each week on meal kit delivery could be convenient. The idea of getting even just a couple hours added back into your day is a no brainer.
Cons:
The cost of meal delivery services
Meal kit delivery services may or may not be cost effective for your family’s food allocation week after week. The good news is that with most plans, you can pause your service and space out the frequency of delivery. So if it worked for your food allocation the prior month but not so much this month, you can go ahead and opt out for a while.
You can also bounce from one service to the next, many offer discounts for new members. Meal kit delivery companies most always offer some kind of deal. If you do decide to give them a try, take a second and do a quick search for discount codes (some can save you as much as 50%), or search around for a referral code (some of these codes will even get you a free box). Shop around.
Serving size
Some prepared meals seem to offer more depending on what it is, but a single serving size of a tilapia fillet won’t have much wiggle room. Think about opting for a larger serving size to guarantee you’ll have extra leftovers.
You’ll still have to go to the grocery store
Ordering meal kits won’t cut out your grocery store trips completely. You’ll still have to go pick up necessitites for breakfast, lunch and for the dinners you won’t be using a meal kit for. Still, meal kit delivery can help put an end to how often you go meal shopping and it might also save you from an impulse buy or two!
Excess packaging
To keep the food fresh and attractive, each separate component needs to be vacuum-sealed. So every separate component of the meal kit whatever it may be is vacuum-sealed and secured in plastic and cardboard before being placed inside more packaging.
Ice packs or insulating material keeps the entire delivery safe. To ward off temperature alternatives that could cause spoilage or even food poisoning. Most meal delivery companies provide information about how you can recycle the packaging.
Eco friendly delivery kits. What are meal delivery kits and are they worth the effort?
Meal kits sound appealing. Environmental impact has people put off. Services ship their products. (sometimes across the country). Insulation and ice packs fill the boxes. Not to mention the plastic packaging that surrounds the food. Some kits even separate each meal into yet another bag.
The materials add up fast, especially if you’re ordering multiple meals per week. Eco-Friendly meal kits aim to reduce this waste in a variety of ways.
The packaging issue has caused many people to turn away from meal kits. Even so, the environmental impact isn’t as bad as it might seem. Some companies focus on local produce to cut down travel time. While others look for ways to decrease their packaging or to make it more sustainable.
Sun basket
Sun Basket focuses on making their materials completely recyclable.
Purple Carrot
The company also takes environmental concerns seriously. Most of their packaging material can be recycled and/or is biodegradable. They also provide information about how to reuse some of their packaging for other purposes.
Green Chef
Their website contains details about the individual packaging materials and what you can do with them. There is even a link to help you find recycling options in your local area.
Hello Fresh
The main environmental aspect is that Hello Fresh focuses on local ingredients and sustainably sourced seafood. Ingredients aren’t transferred as far and the environmental impact is less. Provides clear details about how you can recycle their various packaging components, which is another clear advantage.
Plate Joy
Plate Joy is a little bit unorthodox in its presentation. PlateJoy has partnered with Instacart, which will deliver the food you need. Plate Joy’s style is still more environmentally friendly than a meal kit.
Blue Apron
The first environmental advantage is that Blue Apron relies on responsibly sourced ingredients, including sustainable seafood and avoiding GMOs. Most of their packaging can be recycled, although there are some limitations. While the service isn’t your best option for being eco friendly, it is still a viable choice.
Good Eggs
Good Eggs has multiple environmental advantages, because the company only delivers locally. This includes most zip codes in the Bay Area, including San Francisco. This style allows them to cut out much of the insulation with their boxes.
The impact of transport is reduced too, especially as Good Eggs already has trucks on the road.
Even more importantly, Good Eggs cuts out much of the packaging material. Many of the ingredients are just provided as-is. Recycle plastic easily. And you can even return some of the packaging to your delivery driver next time.
Are meal delivery kits worth the effort? From the environmental perspective to the cost effectiveness of meal delivery services. Meal kits are mainstream. Utilize them if you have not already.
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