Tuesday, August 30, 2016

So I ordered a Meal-kit

I like to cook. And I like to eat fresh and healthy meals. So, I read about food.  A lot. When I read that Canada's battleground is opening up with meal-kit services - my techie-foodie heart pounded. I liked the idea so much, I tried to get a job at HelloFresh - but that's another story.

Fast-food-meets-health-food-101:

It's a $5B market in the US.  Traditional grocery stores, catering companies, restaurants, and grocery delivery services are competing with the newest kids on the block.  The meal-kit companies. With all that competition, it's going to be interesting to watch how this plays out.

And so I tried the 50%-off-order-first-order from Chef's Plate. Ordering was easy:
  • Pick your plan - 2-Person plans cost $10.95 per person and Family plans cost $9.75.  Delivery is free for all the plans except the 2-Person 2 meal plan.
  • Pick your meals - I chose 2-Person 4 meal plan. The meal selection showed a photo and a brief description of the meal.  Clicking through, you see time estimate, ease rating, calorie count, and a list of supplies.  And they point out if it's gluten-free and/or dairy-free.
  • Pick your date - delivery is twice weekly in Calgary and varies by delivery area.

It's a subscription: as long as your subscription is active - they'll "... automatically choose meals for you each (week)."

The package arrived by Fedex Express at 12:20 PM today.

Recipe cards and welcome

Four bags, each labeled with the meal inside, were neatly tucked in.
 
Four bags - one for each meal
A layer, separating the bags from the ice packs had a handy reminder -there's more food under all that packaging.


special liner to help keep things cool



 chicken and fish tucked under ice packs










I repacked the bags and tucked them in the fridge. Tonight, I'll be making Seared Salmon over a Caesar salad with homemade focaccia croutons and asiago cheese.

Two more meals unpacked
Two of the meals unpacked
I'm looking forward to trying four dishes that I'd probably never try making at home. It's kind of fun getting a bag of ingredients individually portioned - like having your own sous chef. On the other hand, I can't get over the amount of packaging.  I'd also like to see labelling on sources for the food (fresh, farmed, previously frozen, country of origin...).

PS - I paused my subscription - the only way I could see how to stop future deliveries - I'm not sure that a subscription would work for me.  Like buying too much produce and having to compost it, I'm not sure I could manage regular delivery.

No comments: