You might have a meal in mind to prepare for your family, but dreaming about it and making it come to fruition are two different things. The truth is, it can be a bit of a challenge to get things just right when preparing gourmet meals, especially if you’ve never tried before. Plus, finding all the required ingredients at the grocery store can be a daunting task.
Luckily, there are food subscription services available that take all the guesswork out of the equation and bring everything right to you, including the recipes and all food items needed.
Here are some of the best meal kit subscription services available in Canada.
Best Food Subscription Boxes In Canada
Canada offers several food subscription services to customers across the country.
Hello Fresh
Hello Fresh is a meal-kit delivery company originally based in Berlin, Germany and now services countries around the world, including Canada, US, Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, Sweden, and Western Europe. The goal of the company is not only to help people prepare and enjoy tasty and healthy meals more conveniently, but also to better budget their food while creating less food waste and minimizing their carbon footprint on the environment.
Types Of Meals Offered: Hello Fresh offers the following types of meals: Meat & Veggies, Family Friendly, Smart Meals, and Vegetarian.
Price Per Meal: All 4 meal plans range from $9.69 to $11.49 per serving a week, depending on the number of recipes and people.
Sustainability & Packaging: Hello Fresh food kit boxes are 100% recyclable. The company also orders ingredients directly from its producers so food items are delivered directly to customers without stopping at other retailers. This helps cut down on CO₂ emissions by minimizing transport time and excess storage.
Average Cook Time: Hello Fresh recipes take an average of about 30 minutes to prepare. However, there are some recipes that can take as little as 20 minutes to cook.
GoodFood
GoodFood is a Montreal-based meal kit delivery company that services customers across Canada. The company was founded by finance professionals who decided to use their experience in the financial realm and incorporate it into the food box delivery industry. GoodFood provides everything needed to make delicious and nutritious meals, and now employs over 500 people to help to deliver meal prep kits to families all over the country.
Types Of Meals Offered: GoodFood offers the following types of meal plans: Easy Prep, Classic, Family, Clean, and Vegetarian.
Price Per Meal: Good Foods prices range from $10.09 to $13.79, depending on the meal plan, number of people, and number of recipes per week.
Sustainability & Packaging: All materials used to deliver meal kits — including the cardboard box and insulation, bags, and bottles — are made of recycled materials that can be recycled after they’ve been used. There are also Box Pick-up or Reusable Box Programs available in certain areas that help customers maximize their role in helping the environment.
Average Cook Time: GoodFood recipes take on average about 30 minutes to prepare.
Chef’s Plate
Chef’s Plate is another meal kit delivery company and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. It currently services customers in all provinces except Newfoundland, with plans to expand.
Types Of Meals Offered: Chef’s Plate offers the following types of meal plans: Meat & Vegetables, Family Friendly, and Vegetarian.
Price Per Meal: Meals range from $8.99 to $9.99, depending on the number of people, number of recipes per week, and meal plan chosen.
Sustainability & Packaging: All packaging used by Chef’s Plate to deliver meal kits is 100% recyclable and will quickly break down after all ice packs and ingredients are removed. However, before disposing of the boxes, they may be reused for leftovers.
Average Cook Time: Many meals on the Chef’s Plate menu take as little as 15 minutes to make and are simpler than other meal kits from other companies.
Cook It
Another Montreal-based meal kit company, Cook It was the first prepared meal kit delivery service in Canada and was also the first to come up with eco-friendly meal kits. Since it began in 2014, the company has been expanding its service areas and now covers Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island.
Types Of Meals Offered: Cook It currently offers Regular and Vegetarian menus, and each comes with anywhere from 14 to 16 recipes per week to choose from.
Price Per Meal: You’ll pay anywhere from $8.48 to $11.50 per meal depending on the meal plan, number of recipes per week, and number of people.
Sustainability & Packaging: Everything that comes with your meal kit is entirely recyclable and can be safely tossed in your recycling bin, including the box, paper bags, Ziploc bags, gel packs, and plastic containers.
Average Cook Time: It takes about 25 to 30 minutes on average to prepare a meal delivered by Cook It.
Benefits Of Food Subscription Boxes
There are several perks to ordering meals kits from a food delivery company:
- Convenience. There’s no need to find recipes and go grocery shopping to get the food items needed to prepare specific meals.
- Saves time. Since all the food is delivered right to your door along with the recipes needed to guide you through meal prep, you can save a bunch of time. Meals can be made in 30 minutes or less!
- Try out new meals. Rather than buying a bunch of groceries to try out a shingle recipe, meal delivery kits allow you to sample recipes you may not have been willing to spend the money and time on to try.
- Healthy meals. Far from take-out, meal kit deliveries are just as nutritious as they are delicious, so you’ll rest easy knowing you’re feeding your family a healthy meal every time.
Drawbacks Of Food Subscription Boxes
Along with the pros of meal kit subscriptions, there are also some cons to consider:
- Can be expensive. If you depend solely on meal kit delivery services, you could find yourself spending more on your food than you would have if you had gone grocery shopping on your own.
- Lots of plastic. Although each meal kit delivery company packages their food in recyclable and biodegradable packaging, there’s still a lot of plastic that goes into packaging, which can be somewhat wasteful compared to grocery shopping with reusable bags.
Final Thoughts
All meal kit delivery services available in Canada are pretty comparable in terms of offerings and price. Plus, they’ve all made a commitment to minimize their carbon footprint, which is an added bonus when taking advantage of a service that cuts back on the work you have to do in the kitchen.
