Cooking delivery services

[cdd]

I keep seeing people getting these recipe boxes delivered by subscription, probably because I live among lazy people.

As a lazy person myself, I should be the ideal target for this stuff but so far I can't see the appeal. The food always looks kind of bland, like it would be a downgrade from the supermarket ready meals I currently live off. I'm also not convinced that it's that convenient, factoring in the hassle of managing the delivery and opening all the packaging, it seems like in many cases you don't even get out of the chopping. Also something about having all my meals planned out a week in advance gives me existentialist dread.

I also don't understand the trend toward subscriptions in the first place. Recipe boxes make some sense as a concept, but I get targeted to subscribe to specialised deliveries of upstart brands of everything from socks to toilet roll, neither of which are inconvenient to buy or products I can bring myself to get excited about. It's like Time Life without the amusement value.

Am I being unduly cynical? Any recipe box evangelists here?

[bilky asko]

Toilet rolls is one I understand. They're a bulky item to transport (especially if you don't have a car), you're reliant on supermarket offers if you're sticking it in your online order, but it's also something that you don't tend to vary your usage of barring an industrial bout of diarrhoea.

With a subscription you get regular rolls at a regular price, perhaps of a type that's more eco-friendly than virgin pulp (which might not be readily available in your area).

[BBC TV Centre]

For everything there's someone that will buy it, regardless of how stupidly priced or the concept seems.

Then there's the angle of convenience and laziness - certain people are used to having "an app for that" and so these are the types that companies like this cater to, and every other subscription service. The money just comes out of their bank account, and the goods turn up at their door, and don't have to think too much about it. They can spend more time faffing about on their phone doomscrolling Tiktok/Insta etc.

I wouldn't ever be entertained by these recipe box companies either, I don't have the money to burn (looking at Hello Fresh as an example nearly £45 per month outside of the trial period) and secondly I'm a bit old school really, if I'm buying perishable items I like to get the best for my money and to the standards I would like for freshness, size etc and see the goods before paying my money and making my choice.

It's probably the reason why I wouldn't ever use online supermarket shops - you are entrusting your shop to someone at minimum wage who is under time pressure to get the order out, and so will just pick any old off the shelf at the front and bang in the trolley.

I don't understand how popular deliveroo/just eat etc are in supermarkets, whenever I'm in Waitrose or Sainsbury's there's often a chorus of ding-dongs from the scanners of the shop staff to no doubt indicate there's a new order for picking.
Are we just all more lazier, since the technology enables us to be so? And also since the pandeomic when these services no doubt had a surge in uptake. In any case for the companies involved, it's revenue for them.

[gottago]

For some reason Hello Fresh won't stop giving me 55% off deals so have got them a few times simply because it's been cheaper than buying equivalent meals. I always cook from fresh and don't have ready meals so there is an appeal for me in terms of cutting out the time I'd spend going to the supermarket after work, but that's kind of where the advantage ends. Quite a lot of the menu options are quite bland and I tend to go for the ones that are easier to freeze so that I can batch cook some of them which limits the options even more for me.

I've noticed they're increasingly having supply issues and they've been substituting a few ingredients. They replaced broccoli with peas in a recipe I made a few weeks ago and it was pretty rank, not a suitable replacement for the recipe at all. I'm pretty sure I read an article a while back saying they were struggling and there's never ended offers for them on the various credit/debit cards I use.

[Pete]

For some reason Hello Fresh won't stop giving me 55% off deals

Hello Fresh seems to operate as a sort of MLM scheme in some ways. It's very odd and they've probably fucked their own margin with this nonsense.

I've done Gousto now and again but I feel they work better as meals for two. One thing, for people like me who can't cook and burn everything, is they're quite good at being sly home economics lessons.

I've learned some "obvious" techniques such as putting the pan lid over the burger to melt the cheese slice that i'd have never known otherwise.

[cdd]

I don't understand how popular deliveroo/just eat etc are in supermarkets, whenever I'm in Waitrose or Sainsbury's there's often a chorus of ding-dongs from the scanners of the shop staff to no doubt indicate there's a new order for picking

I agree they're overused but I do actually find these useful. I've used them - once when I was sick, once when working and unable to break for lunch, once when I needed some food at 3 am, once on Christmas Day, etc. The items are a little overpriced but not by as much as restaurants are. The substitution options are also much better than traditional grocery delivery services – for example, you can say you want the whole order cancelled if a certain item is missing.

I am subscribed to Deliveroo Diamond which costs an extortionate £250/year, but they refund your entire order if it's 15+ mins late – which it is about a quarter of the time so come out well ahead, especially since you keep the 10% credit earned. It has changed my behaviour to order from restaurants as far away as possible and at busy times to maximise my chances. I don't think I've ever paid for a delivery on Friday or Saturday night, although a couple of days ago my delivery was a fairly impressive 2 hours late.

[Philip]

It's probably the reason why I wouldn't ever use online supermarket shops - you are entrusting your shop to someone at minimum wage who is under time pressure to get the order out, and so will just pick any old off the shelf at the front and bang in the trolley.

Whilst I agree that it's preferable to go around a supermarket and see the items you're buying, when you've got a household that includes a girlfriend with chronic illness, and a 6 year old and 13 year old that need taxi-ing multiple times a week, sometimes it's just more convenient to have a home delivery.

[Pete]

on the subject of supermarkets on deliveroo - i've also found it helpful after I injured myself and couldn't drive for a few weeks. However it is quite annoying. Tesco whoosh is also a good option although its basically white labelled uber eats driver tied to tesco's app.

One issue is the paper bags and you're never sure which one has the two 4 pinters of milk in them and then tear.

Also bc its always done from the express shops you're sometimes lacking on certain items. Fresh red chillies for example, have to order mixed chilies from Sainburys separately as Tesco don't have them in their small shops.


That said, I hate the UI of the shopping apps and getting back into big tesco physically made such a difference. My ideal format would be to have a VR headset so I could walk around *MY* branch of big tesco and pick the items off the shelf and put them in my trolley.

[rob]

I found online home deliveries a real lifeline when I was battling depression. Having the basics arrive at my door took the pressure off on days when even leaving my flat felt tough.

I’ve never had a problem with ASDA’s service. It’s been steady, on time, and simple. I’ve had very few substitutions, and the ones I did get were fine.

[Nick Harvey]

Also bc its always done from the express shops you're sometimes lacking on certain items.

I've also noted that with Whoosh, you pay the Express prices, which are often higher than those for the same product in a Metro.

[Dr Lobster*]

We tried Gousto and Hello Fresh, there are some good recipes there and interesting meals but I would say the portion sizes are a bit small sometimes and we had issues with Hello Fresh multiple poor quality ingredients - bumped and bruised vegetables and some of the meat arriving with like 1 or 2 days before the use by date.

I think if I was single, I'd probably give them a go again as they do get you trying things you perhaps never would - I'm no chef so I was surprised how easy it was to make some things that tasted great - especially some of the soups and things like from like 4 ingredients.