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Online shopping is becoming an increasingly popular option across a multitude of business sectors. In fact, U.S. e-commerce revenue is about $423.3 billion and is steadily climbing. But one surprising trend in the e-commerce world revolves around food — more specifically, meal plan subscription boxes. Regardless of your dietary needs and/or restrictions, there’s almost certain to be a perfect meal kit subscription for you. Let’s take a look at some of 2018’s most popular meal subscription boxes and plans:
HelloFresh
HelloFresh is a versatile provider of at-home meal kits. They allow you to customize your meal types and quantities based on the number of people you’re cooking for. You can go online ahead of time, check out the recipes they have available that week, and choose which sound the most appetizing to get sent right to your door. But perhaps most interestingly, they have a box solely for vegetarian options called the Veggie Plan, which can include more greens such as MicroGreens. MicroGreens are a tiny form of edible greens produced from very young vegetable, herb or other plants. They range in size from one to 1.5 inches long, including the stem and leaves. If you’re interested in giving HelloFresh a try, their current promotion allows you to get half off your first box.
Freshly
In case you didn’t know, Americans consume more chicken than anyone else in the world. It’s the number one protein consumed in the United States. If you’ll be cooking for a big family, or you want a wider variety of meals to choose from, consider Freshly, which also caters to specific allergen and dietary restrictions.
“With Freshly you can receive 4 meals for $50 a week, 6 for $60 a week, 9 for $90 a week, or a whopping 12 meals for $108 a week. That’s a lot of chicken. What makes Freshly special is that they also include options for breakfast, which other meal subscription services leave out. The menu is updated weekly and includes specs on things like gluten or soy so you can safely avoid allergens,” writes Carlos Cadorniga on Mashable.
Blue Apron
If you truly want to improve your cooking skills and become more of a kitchen connoisseur, consider Blue Apron. Blue Apron is unique because it includes not only specific portions of the foods each recipe calls for, but recommendations for the best utensils as well. Plus, you’ll get exclusive tips for proper preparation from professional chefs as well as the occasional chef-inspired recipe option. Blue Apron is also considered to be among the most culturally unique box — case in point, recent recipe options include Korean Rice Cakes and Tinga Tostadas.
Some people worry about safe transportation of these temperature-sensitive ingredients, which is understandable considering that the CDC says one in six Americans gets sick each year by consuming contaminated foods or beverages. But these brands have perfected the process of preserving your foods properly, so as long as you refrigerate them after you receive them, there’s nothing to worry about. But if you’d rather skip the full meals and opt for snacks instead, we’ve got one more suggestion for you:
SnackSack
SnackSack includes 11 different healthy snacks in each box. Each has different flavors and themes. There’s a classic plan as well as a vegan plan and a gluten free plan. And the affordable price of just $22.95 a month pales in comparison to the ability to snack completely guilt free.
So there you have it — these are some of the most common meal (and snack) subscription plans. Happy cooking!
Marigold says
For the freshness and versatility, yes! Great idea!