Building H Index

HelloFresh

INDUSTRY

food

products Profiled

HelloFresh meal kit service

HelloFresh Market

H-Score

60

ranked 1st (tie) of 16 within food industry

ranked 9th (tie) of 37 overall

product description

The HelloFresh meal kit delivery service allows subscribers to choose from a variety of recipes and ingredients for weekly delivery. Subscription plans have flat rates, based on the number of meals and servings per meal. HelloFresh Market offers the opportunity to add sides, desserts, pantry items, produce and meats to a subscriber’s meal kit order.(1)

product usage

Subscribers start by expressing their dietary preferences. These options, which are not mutually exclusive, include: Meat & Veggies, Veggie, Family Friendly, Fit & Wholesome, Pescatarian, and Quick and Easy. The Fit & Wholesome line includes meals with 650 calories or less and meals with 40 grams or less net carbs (i.e. carbs minus fiber).(2) Subscribers can order up to six (6) meals per week with either two (2) or four (4) servings per meal. One box, with all the ingredients for the week’s meals, is shipped each week. Subscribers have the option of adding extras (desserts, snacks, sides, and other meal items) through the HelloFresh Market and upgrading to gourmet meals.(3)

influence on health-related behaviors

EATING

moderate to strong positive influence

HelloFresh’s meal kit service enables people to cook meals with fresh ingredients two (2) to six (6) times per week.

In general, fresh, home-cooked meals have been shown to be healthier than meals eaten at or taken out from sit-down or fast food restaurants.(4-8) People who cook at home more frequently also tend to have diets that have higher compliance with dietary guidelines.(9)

In Building H’s consumer research, nearly 80% of meal kit users (not specific to HelloFresh) said that meal kit meals were healthier than (33.5%) or as healthy as (46.0%) the meals they cooked for themselves. In addition, 69.1% of users said that their meal kit meals were healthier than meals that they got via delivery or takeout.(10)

HelloFresh offers subscribers to tailor their meals according to dietary preferences – including a “Fit & Wholesome” option in addition to vegetarian and pescatarian options, thus creating opportunities for subscribers to choose healthier meals.

In an analysis conducted by researchers at UC Irvine in collaboration with Building H, the top 50 most popular meals listed on HelloFresh’s website had a median Adapted Dietary Inflammatory Index (ADII) score of 4.59. ADII(11) is one marker of nutritional quality and is associated with inflammation, which has been connected with obesity and diabetes. A lower score is better than a higher score. (By comparison, the ADII score for a McDonald’s Big Mac with a large order of fries is 10.47, a kale salad is 0.34 and a medium-sized apple is -0.32.) HelloFresh's score of 4.59 is in the middle of the three meal kit services Building H reviewed (the range was 4.38 to 5.88).

In terms of calories, the top 50 most popular meals listed on HelloFresh’s site had a median of 639 calories per serving, representing 0.94 times the recommended calories for women and 0.72 times the recommended calories for men at dinner.(12) Note that this calorie count does not include beverages consumed with dinner.

The HelloFresh Market offers a mix of healthy items, such as fresh produce, and less healthy items, such as desserts and ready-to-eat meals.

PHYSICAL ACTVITY

neutral influence

Cooking a meal certainly involves more physical activity than preparing ready-to-eat or takeout/delivery meals.

While HelloFresh promotes home cooking, it also potentially deters subscribers from the physical activity associated with grocery shopping (to the extent that the meal kits obviate some amount of grocery shopping). Adding the HelloFresh Market offering will potentially eliminate some grocery trips.

Sleeping

neutral to slight positive influence

By offering a relatively healthy alternative to fast food and other food delivery services, HelloFresh could potentially be saving people time for sleeping while allowing them to still eat healthy, although research has not established a clear link between time saved on household activities and more sleep.

HelloFresh offers a “Quick & Easy” line of recipes with quicker prep and faster clean up as a way to save time.

Engaging Socially

neutral to slight positive influence

Offering meal plans for up to six (6) people might help bring families and friends together for meals. By requiring that the subscriber purchase a minimum of two (2) servings per meal, HelloFresh encourages (though certainly doesn’t require) social eating.

In Building H’s consumer research, 77% of respondents who use meal kits (not specific to HelloFresh) indicated that they eat with others (23% eat them alone). This result compares with a finding, from a 2015 report from the Food Marketing Index(13), that Americans eat approximately 46% of meals alone -- suggesting that meal kits could contribute to increased social engagement.

To the degree that the service leads to less time in grocery stores, it likely reduces the casual social interactions associated with in-person shopping. In Building H’s consumer research, 54% of shoppers rated these interactions positively, as compared with 9% rating them negatively.(14)

opportunities:

Offer the ability to order additional meals (beyond normal limits) to facilitate gatherings of friends, family.

Getting Outdoors

neutral to slight negative influence

As noted above, HelloFresh’s service can substitute for grocery shopping. To the degree that the service cuts down on trips to grocery stores, HelloFresh could potentially reduce time spent outdoors.