Has dinner time become a real chore? Are you tired of the thought of meal prep and planning and the age-old question, "What's for dinner?"
Do you like to cook but feel like you have the same meals on weekly rotation and need some inspiration? If these thoughts constantly spiral in your mind, you might be wondering if meal delivery services can work for you.
Meal kits have become increasingly popular as more people seek convenient yet healthy ways to prepare meals at home. These subscription-based services deliver pre-portioned ingredients and recipes straight to your door, saving you time on meal planning and grocery shopping.
CHOICE kitchen expert Fiona Mair says, "One of the biggest issues for families is deciding what to cook for dinner, and meal kits take away some of that stress. They can take the hassle out of preparing good-quality home-cooked meals because they provide easy-to-follow instructions and a good variety of meals to suit different tastes and families."
Meal kits ... provide easy-to-follow instructions and a good variety of meals to suit different tastes and families
CHOICE kitchen expert Fiona Mair
HelloFresh and Marley Spoon are two of the market leaders in this category. While their offering is similar, when we put these services to the test, we found there were differences in price and quality between the two.
Our experts tested seven meal kit subscription services, from EveryPlate, QuiteLike, Dinnerly and more. To find out how HelloFresh and Marley Spoon compare to the rest, check out the full results in our food box delivery services review.
On this page:
- HelloFresh
- Marley Spoon
- How do Marley Spoon and HelloFresh compare on price?
- What delivery options do they offer?
- How do they compare for quality and freshness?
- Is it easy to order from these services?
- How do they compare in terms of sustainability?
- Our verdict
HelloFresh
HelloFresh was one of the first companies to hit the meal-kit scene, launching in 2012 in Australia and since expanding to over 15 countries worldwide. When you think of meal kits, HelloFresh is probably one of the first brands to come to mind.
The service includes options for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, drinks and desserts that cater for two, four or six people. You can customise some meals by adding protein or other extras and there' are also options for 'ready to heat' meals.
The HelloFresh Group has many brands under its wings but those available in Australia include HelloFresh, EveryPlate and Youfoodz.
HelloFresh and EveryPlate are the two meal kit offerings, while EveryPlate is the more budget-friendly option of the two.
If you're looking for even more convenience and want to do away with cooking your meals yourself, Youfoodz provides a delivery service of portioned, ready-made meals. If this is the type of service you're after, we've put eight prepared meal services to the test from brands like Thrive, Nourish'd, Soulara and more. To find out how they stack up, take a look at our food box and prepared meal services review.
Marley Spoon
Marley Spoon entered the market in 2015, marketing themselves as a more premium meal kit experience with a focus on high-quality ingredients and gourmet recipe options.
Marley Spoon only caters for two or four people but provides a wide range of recipes to choose from, with options for lunch, dinner, sides, snacks, drinks and desserts. You can also personalise your meal by adding or swapping proteins and other extras.
Dinnerly is also owned by Marley Spoon. It's the more budget-friendly offering of the two.
How do Marley Spoon and HelloFresh compare on price?
Our testers ordered a family box which included three meals for four people.
- HelloFresh costs $135 or $11.25 per person per meal
- Marley Spoon costs $154 or $12.82 per person per meal
This price includes the $9.99 delivery fee that both services charge (but no discounts are included). Keep in mind that the per person per meal cost can change depending on the size of your box and/or how many meals (and what type of meals) you order.
If you're new to meal kits, these companies offer various introductory deals where you'll get discounts on your first few orders. However, Fiona says to be cautious. "HelloFresh and MarleySpoon ask for your personal details and credit card information before you can even view the menu and price. "Remember that once they have your contact details, you will be listed on their marketing database and we've found that this means you'll be frequently contacted with offers to subscribe."
Will HelloFresh or Marley Spoon save you money?
Whether these meal kit services will save you money depends on the type of shopper and meal planner you are. Someone who is good at planning meals in advance, shopping for ingredients in bulk and taking advantage of specials between supermarkets is unlikely to make savings using these services.
In some cases the cost of each meal per person can be more than you would spend if you were to buy all the ingredients needed from the supermarket. You are obviously paying more for the convenience, meal inspiration and the fact the ingredients are portioned and delivered to your door.
However, if you're the type of person that throws away a lot of perishable items or buys ingredients for a meal and then never uses them again, the specific quantities you'll get from the box means you'll waste less and therefore potentially make savings.
If you are also someone who finds themselves resorting to expensive takeaways or multiple last-minute grocery trips per week to pick up pricier ingredients, you may find this option is more cost-effective.
What delivery options do they offer?
Marley Spoon is available nationwide whereas HelloFresh is available in all states except Tasmania. In both cases the delivery day and time depends on your location and you'll receive a confirmation text and tracking link the day before your delivery.
When choosing your delivery time, aim for a window where you're likely to be home to accept delivery. While meat and dairy items are delivered in insulated bags with ice gel packs, the quicker you can get the meals out of the box and into your fridge the better.
How do they compare for quality and freshness?
CHOICE experts assessed each box they received on various factors to come up with an overall score, or CHOICE Expert Rating. One of the key factors is performance, which takes into account the presentation of the ingredients on arrival, how easy recipes are to follow and whether the recipe cooking times given are accurate. They also assess the freshness of the ingredients supplied.
CHOICE members can access the full reviews in our meal delivery box review.
In terms of the freshness of ingredients, Marley Spoon was significantly better than HelloFresh, with a score of 90%, compared to 70% for HelloFresh.
We've had some members complain about HelloFresh, specifically about the lack of fresh produce, portion sizes not being uniform and poor customer service. During testing, our experts encountered similar issues. "We found some produce to be less than acceptable, for example, we received celery with brown ends," says Fiona.
Are the meals easy to cook and how do they taste?
The two services received the same rating on how easy the recipes were to make, but in regards to how good the meals tasted, Marley Spoon came out on top.
A prepared HelloFresh meal and the recipe card.
HelloFresh
- Ease of recipe score 80%
- Meal rating score 67%
A recipe card is included in the box, which is also available to view online or through the app.
"The recipes were easy to follow with step-by-step instructions and you'll only need basic cooking skills to prepare these meals," says Fiona.
The card lists the ingredients for two- and four-person portion sizes and the pantry staples you'll need are clearly labelled. You can find nutritional information on the card but for allergen and ingredient information you'll need to visit the website.
While the meals looked presentable and very similar to the pictures on the recipe cards, our experts rated the flavour of the meals as OK overall. Some feedback included "OK flavour, rice was chalky, seasoning was a little overpowering."
A prepared Marley Spoon meal and the recipe card.
Marley Spoon
- Ease of recipe score 80%
- Meal rating score 75%
The recipe card comes in the box, but you can choose to go paperless in the account settings and view the recipe online or through the app. You'll need basic cooking skills to prepare these recipes and they're easy to follow with step-by-step instructions. The recipe card will also give you all the information you need, like pantry staples, utensils required, cooking tips, allergens, estimated cooking times, portion sizes and nutritional analysis as well as percentage of Australian ingredients.
When it comes to taste, our experts were impressed with Marley Spoon. The portion sizes were good and the meals looked very similar to the pictures. At least one of the meals was "delicious, healthy and fresh tasting", says Fiona
Is it easy to order from these services?
Our experts consider how easy it is to subscribe and unsubscribe from these services, as well as ease of ordering, whether the box is delivered on time, all items are received accurately and the food is delivered at a safe temperature.
All this considered, both services stack up very well.
Ease of ordering and delivery score
- HelloFresh 84%
- Marley Spoon 82%
Subscribing and unsubscribing to HelloFresh and Marley Spoon is fairly simple. They both have apps that are easy to download, but if you're using the app there's no "place order" option, so you might be left wondering if the order has actually been placed.
For both services, if you forget to place your order for the upcoming week, you'll be sent whatever has been preselected, which is usually the best selling recipes. Depending on your delivery day there will be a cut-off for final meal selections. You'll usually need to choose your meals a week in advance.
We think these companies should allow you to view the full menu and receive accurate pricing for your selected meals and any extras before giving away any personal information
CHOICE kitchen expert Fiona Mair
When making your selections, meals will be preselected for you. You need to make sure you delete these selections (unless that's what you want to order). Not doing this could result in you paying for extra meals (the preselected ones as well as your choices).
Both HelloFresh and Marley Spoon delivered all the meals that were expected within the time frame specified.
When we tested Marley Spoon, the delivery was left after midnight and was outside for four and a half hours before collection. When our experts checked the temperatures, the salmon and halloumi were slightly higher than the optimum refrigeration temperature. This could become an issue if the box is left during hot summer days. It becomes a food safety hazard when meat, seafood and dairy are left sitting at temperatures over 5°C.
How do they compare in terms of sustainability?
While meal delivery services can be a great way to reduce food waste, they also use a lot of packaging. While all services we looked at make use of packaging that is recyclable or reusable, some are better than others.
"Each meal can come with lots of individual wrappers for vegetables, meat, spices and sauces, and in most cases these pouches go into general waste," says Fiona.
Wrappers from one HelloFresh meal.
HelloFresh
- Cardboard box, recipe card, meal kit bags (including stickers) and cans are recyclable.
- Cool pouches are 100% kerbside recyclable (just empty and dry them before putting them in the bin).
- If plastic cool pouches are received they need to be disposed in general waste.
- Ice packs can be reused.
- Plastic wrappers used for meats, salads and herbs can be disposed of in general waste.
Marley Spoon
- Boxes are recyclable and made from 70% recycled cardboard.
- Claims 99% of packaging in the order is recyclable.
- Ice packs can be reused (if not, the outer plastic layer can go into general waste and the gel inside can go in the bin or into your plants).
- Insulation bags are reusable and are made from 30% recycled materials.
- Paper bags (and stickers) are recyclable.
- Ingredient packaging like hard plastic containers (empty and cleaned) are accepted as recyclables by most recycling programs.
Our verdict
There's no denying the convenience that a meal kit can provide. If you're time poor, have limited cooking skills, are looking for meal inspiration or to control your meal portions, meal kits tick all these boxes. However, they might not be the money-saving exercise you expect.
Marley Spoon may be the more expensive of the two, but it delivers in terms of quality and our experts rated it better than HelloFresh for performance, freshness, and meal rating.
Fiona says a pain point with these services is having to provide personal details upfront. "We think these companies should allow you to view the full menu and receive accurate pricing for your selected meals and any extras before giving away any personal information."
To find out how Marley Spoon and HelloFresh stack up against other meal kits we've tested, check out our full meal delivery services review.
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Stock images: Getty, unless otherwise stated.
