When you’re planning a meal, do you want the highest-quality ingredients, or is low price more important?
When it comes to meal-kit delivery services, research conducted by financial-insights site TopDollar shows that it’s hard to have both. In data collected in August and September, TopDollar collected recipes from most of the services in the US and the UK for standardized boxes with ingredients for four two-person meals (eight portions). It then compared the ingredient prices against the prices for the same delicious components at a local supermarket chain for each country. Then, the site calculated the cost of ingredients versus the cost of the actual box.
At PCMag, we’ve reviewed many meal-kit providers, including favorites Blue Apron, Hello Fresh, and Green Chef, each of which earned a rating of 4.5 and an Editors’ Choice award. And we’re happy to note that the report shows those three, plus the vegan Purple Carrot (which earned a rating of 4) are at the top of the list when it comes to the value of ingredients. Blue Apron leads with an average value of $39.68.
But being valuable doesn’t translate to saving money, of course. The comparisons continued with a close look at the difference in the value of the ingredients versus the actual price consumers are charged for the box. Here, kits from companies EveryPlate and Dinnerly led the way. Both promise $4.99-per-serving meals, usually comfort food. They’re not rated as highly as PCMag favorites because the finished food simply isn’t as enticing, but you get what you pay for.
EveryPlate is the best meal kit for savings—the difference between its ingredients’s prices compared with supermarket prices is less than $13. Discounting $8.99 of that as the shipping fee, you’re almost at cost.
The differential for top brands Blue Apron and Hello Fresh, whose ingredients cost about $30 or more over store prices, are pretty average for meal kits. The most expensive in terms of overall value is the vegetarian version of SunBasket, which has a price difference of over $65 between store ingredients and box ingredients. You might as well go to a restaurant.
To do a quick comparison using TopDollar’s interactive table that lets you narrow down the country and regular-versus-vegan meal-kit options, check out its full report.
