Is Hello Fresh worth it for students?
Hassle-free meals are a staple of university life. Lucy Evans looks into Hello Fresh and whether it is as student-friendly as it seems.
Most students will be familiar with the concept of Hello Fresh or other similar companies that deliver pre-portioned ingredients to make meals with little food waste and without the stress of buying ingredients. With the Hello Fresh website promising ‘simplicity’, ‘flexibility’ and being ‘stress-free’, the service really does seem like every student’s dream.
The premise looks convenient for students. Meals are delivered straight to your door; with this convenient delivery service there’s no more hiking back from Tesco with heavy bags, and bribing your housemate to drive you to Aldi is a thing of the past. The delivery comes with pre-portioned ingredients, a welcome action that means there is less food waste. Hello Fresh sources lots of their products sustainably and is carbon-neutral, meaning that you can eat dinner with the knowledge that your meal is sustainable.
When it comes to the actual food, Hello Fresh definitely has an advantage over standard student meals. Student meals are notorious for being very basic. Hello Fresh and similar companies like Gousto provide interesting and different recipes which could perhaps get students out of a meal plan that is repetitive or lacking in nutrition. For example, Hello Fresh’s website boasts a ‘Prawn Red Thai Style Curry’ on the menu, as well as a ‘Roasted Pepper and Aubergine Linguine’, two options which definitely sound more adventurous than a student-style pasta.
However, despite these student-friendly perks, if students are after door delivery and convenience, a grocery delivery from a supermarket could work just as well, and will cover breakfast, lunch and dinner instead of just evening meals.
As student budgets are notoriously tight, splashing out on a meal plan delivery service […] may not be the best idea economically speaking
Price is another issue that might work against these kinds of services. As student budgets are notoriously tight, splashing out on a meal plan delivery service that is tailored to your likes and only delivers the exact ingredients needed for a few meals may not be the best idea economically speaking. The smallest meal plan at Hello Fresh is 6 servings a week, which would cost students £31.98. While the service is convenient and sustainable, and the meals look far better than an average student meal, if saving money is a priority then these kinds of services will probably not be of interest to the average student.
The more servings per week that are ordered, the cheaper the cost. Teaming up with a few housemates and ordering a large batch may be financially smarter if the convenience of a meal plan delivery service is something that you want to try. However, cooking batch meals with housemates using store-bought ingredients could also work out cheaper than using services such as Hello Fresh.
Meal plan delivery services offer both pros and cons for students hoping to make their meal times a little bit easier. Whether services such as Hello Fresh are worth it for students is entirely up to individual priorities, with the convenience of the service differing depending on if students prioritise stress-free, pre-portioned meals or making that student loan stretch a little bit further.
