If you’re like me, you enjoy high quality, tasty, restaurant quality food. If you’re also like me, you don’t really have time to make said meals in your home. Meal subscription services like Plated, Blue Apron, Freshly and Hello Fresh are a good way to get restaurant quality food without all of the hassle.
Here’s a look at a couple of the different meal subscription services and how they work:
DICED
DICED
DICED is founder Tinsley Meloy’s response to the “meal kit” game. It’s very simple. “We write the recipes. We shop for the components. We prep the ingredients (right down to dicing the onions). And we send it to you.” There’s no commitment and no subscription. “You order when you want and what you want. And we set you up to make restaurant quality food in your kitchen,” says Meloy. “Oh and you get everything next day, and it’s 100% gluten-free. So basically it’s awesomeness packaged and delivered.”
It’s convenient because Meloy doesn’t believe great food needs to complicated. “I spent six months working with thirty households just trying to see exactly what people were looking for in a meal kit delivery company.” Then, she made it her mission to make that happen. “As a result DICED offers single servings (because single people eat too), an a la carte menu (because not everyone likes everything), no subscription commitment (unless you want it), and next day delivery (because that’s awesome).”
How It Works
It’s really quite simple. All you have to do is visit their website and order what you want.
“We provide everything to you with the exception of olive oil, canola oil, and salt & pepper.” And what they send is pre-measured and ready to go. “I dice the onion so you don’t have to,” says Meloy. You’ll no longer have a lonely jar of curry powder that you used only once eyeing you every time you open your pantry. “We have four core menu items that change seasonally and rotating weekly specials.”
The core menu items are fast, healthy, and take very little effort. “The rotating specials are still easy to execute, but might take a little more time or be higher in calories.” But, the beauty is if you don’t want to splurge on a cream sauce, or you don’t have forty-five minutes to make risotto you don’t have to order those meals. “What you chose is up to you and completely on your schedule.”
DICED always has eight meals on no matter what, but they have started to see that people really enjoy certain items and they are trying to extend their time on the menu. “For instance, our Chicken Picatta and Caesar Salad with Garlic Croutons sold out in forty-eight hours but we were able to replenish and added a little inventory to keep it on the menu for another week,” says Meloy. She likes to give the people what they want. “New specials go up on Thursday nights – so if it’s something really exotic check out the site on Thursdays and order so you don’t miss out.”
Are the Meals Low-Calorie?
“Yes and no,” says Meloy. While she totally believes in living a healthy and balanced lifestyle she also appreciates a good splurge meal now and then. “I mean, we’re all human, right?” She tries to really find ways to make meals healthier. “For example, I cut major calories and upped the nutrient density of the core Mac & Cheese by cutting back on cheese and adding butternut squash puree – you feel like you are eating something decadent, but I’m just tricking your taste buds.”
Then there are also times when you just want that fettuccine alfredo so she’ll give that to you too. “All of the approximate calorie counts are included in the product information so you are able to check out what you are committing to before actually committing to it.”
Gluten Free
Meloy has celiac disease. “I have to eat gluten-free every day for the rest of my life.” But, she loves to cook and she loves food. “I felt so defeated when I found out I had celiac disease. I mean, I had been really sick so I was looking forward to being healthy, but this changed everything.” She spent hours reading recipes, figuring out how to convert them to be gluten-free, calling manufacturers to make sure there products were actually safe for me to eat, meal planning, and then grocery shopping. “By the time I got to cooking dinner I was so exhausted I ate a bowl of gluten-free cereal and went to bed.”
DICED is for people like Meloy who have to eat gluten-free. “But, that being said, our meals are delicious.” Who says gluten-free has to be taste free?” It certainly doesn’t. She wanted to start a company that met all of the major complaints from the “other guys,” but was also delicious and safe for people with a gluten-free lifestyle. “I was just looking for a win-win situation and I think I’ve created that with DICED.”
Freshly
Freshly
Freshly is a gourmet meal delivery service, dedicated to offering the most delicious meals possible, meticulously crafted with the freshest, natural ingredients. “Each meal is ready-made, prepared by professional chefs, then sent directly to your doorstep every week, saving Freshly customers the time it takes to prep, cook and clean up meals,” says Freshly’s CEO Michael Wystrach.
Freshly
All meals are free from gluten, refined sugars and artificial flavoring. “Weekly menu rotations ensure that customers can try something new and exciting each week.” Freshly expertly balances great taste and good health, making it the easiest way for busy people to save time and money without sacrificing quality, flavor or creativity. “All meals pack a powerful nutritional punch without the environment being hit.” Each week‘s delivery is shipped in a box lined with biodegradable, recycled denim insulation encased in recyclable paper allowing consumers to have less guilt about eating guilt-free.
How It Works
Everything today is available at the click of a button, so they wanted to make healthy, fresh, chef-driven meals just as accessible. “Within a few clicks the meals are scheduled to be delivered to your door. From there it’s a simple few minutes in the microwave before enjoying.” They like to think about all of the time saved by not having to grocery shop, meal prep, cook, etc. “It’s mindful eating brought directly to you.”
Where Freshly really stands apart from its competitors is that their dishes require no cooking even though they are health focused and subscription based. “With Freshly, you’re two minutes from a great meal.” Other meal delivery services/kits are wonderful for ordering dishes, however the long wait for your meal to arrive tends to put a damper on the experience, whereas all of our meals for the week arrive at once and are readily available for you whenever you’d like them. “We’re looking to go national by this summer and are currently available in ten states, making us much more accessible as well.”
Visit Freshly.com and choose your location. “We’re currently servicing ten states and will be launching nationally by this summer.” Once your meals are chosen, they ship in eco-friendly packaging. “We tend to ship packages Monday-Friday, which means your meals are delivered Tuesday-Saturday, depending on which delivery date you selected and depending on your location.” Currently, they have about twenty-four different meals available and will be adding one to two per week in the coming weeks. “We also tend to rotate the meals to keep a variety of selections coming.”
