Modern life moves fast. We’re all searching for ways to save time and spend the moments that matter with our family and friends. Meal delivery services are advertised everywhere and promise quick, home-cooked meals for the whole family that will bring you together at the dinner table.
The market size for meal kit delivery was valued at $15.9 Billion in 2022 and is expected to reach $51.2 Billion by 2030. But are meal delivery kits worth the money and convenience? Do they truly save time? Are there healthy options available?
In this blog, we’ll discuss the pros and cons of meal delivery services and how to find the right option for your family. Hungry yet? Let’s go!
Pros of Meal Delivery Services
There are several benefits of meal delivery services available on the market. Let’s investigate why this may be a good option for you.
Convenience and Time-Saving
The real draw of meal kits is the convenience. Meal delivery services remove the time and mental load of weekly meal planning, meal prep, and grocery shopping. Most meal delivery kits come with all the pre-portioned ingredients you need and easy-to-follow recipes or a pre-cooked entree that can be quickly heated in the oven or microwave.
Time is in short supply, and the value of adding hours back into your life with pre-planned and prepped meals cannot be overstated.
Variety and Exploration
The range of available options means you can experience many different dishes and cuisines and cater to most dietary needs while enjoying fresh, homemade food. You are sure to try some new flavors, ingredients, and preparation styles, and with the many companies available, you will find options that fit all your requirements.
Meal kits provide globally inspired recipes, ingredients you may not have explored, and cooking techniques you don’t usually have exposure to. Expanding our minds and palettes is a great way to broaden our horizons and make our life experiences more robust, and meal delivery services offer many opportunities to do just that.
Portion Control and Nutritional Balance
Portion control is an element of meal delivery services that many people overlook. Due to the pre-portioned ingredients or pre-cooked servings, these meals often provide significant practice with portion control and encourage healthy eating habits. Eating at restaurants with large portion sizes has skewed our view of serving sizes, and many people over-prepare and overeat when cooking at home.
Many meal delivery services offer nutritious meals with a healthy mix of protein, fats, and carbohydrates to promote a balanced diet. When stopping at a drive-through or eating out at a restaurant, the nutrient balance often skews toward high-fat, high-carb, and heavily processed foods.
Cons of Meal Delivery Services
There are also drawbacks to meal delivery services. Let’s look at some reasons people may decide meal delivery isn’t the best option for their lifestyle.
Cost
While the cost of meal delivery could be lower than eating out, it is more expensive compared to regular grocery shopping and meal preparation. With meal kits, you pay for the convenience of the service and things like shipping costs, premium meal options, and packaging costs.
Packaging Waste
Weekly meal delivery amasses large amounts of cardboard boxes, recipe cards, ice packs or dry ice, and padding or other packaging materials.
Some meal delivery services offer recycling of their product waste, but much of it is plastic that is not recyclable. It’s important to be mindful of meal delivery packaging waste compared to other meal preparation options.
On the flip side, some research has shown that reducing food waste and recycling packaging may have a smaller environmental impact than shopping at the grocery store.
Lack of Culinary Skills Development
One possible drawback of meal delivery services is that relying on pre-planned and portioned meals may lead to a lack of developing culinary skills.
At Fresh Tri, we believe in the Iterative Mindset Method™ for building a lifestyle full of healthy habits and creating lasting change. With meal delivery services, you may miss out on honing your cooking skills – there won’t be much opportunity for tweaking and practicing your approach in the kitchen.
Finding the Right Fit
There are many services available for meal kit delivery, and if it is an avenue you want to pursue for your dietary needs, you can find the best option for you.
Let’s discuss how to find the right fit.
Customization Options
Most meal delivery options can accommodate dietary restrictions or preferences. You can choose meal plans for specific diets, such as vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, and more.
Most services allow for complete customization if you have any food allergies or foods you avoid for any reason.
Customer Reviews and Satisfaction
Before choosing a meal delivery service, research customer reviews of the options that appeal to you to find the one with the highest customer satisfaction that matches your needs.
There are many reputable reviews of the most popular meal delivery companies, like these from Bon Appetit, CNET, and Money.com.
Incorporate Healthy Food Habits with Meal Delivery Options and Fresh Tri
Meal delivery services are an excellent choice to get healthy options on your table without the mental and physical labor of hours spent in the kitchen.
Your options range from pre-cooked meals you can pop in the microwave to meal kits with pre-portioned ingredients that allow you to cook from scratch.
Even with meal delivery services, you can incorporate healthier options into your life and iterate your way to lasting change when paired with the Fresh Tri app. Download it today.
