Factor
HIGHLIGHTS
Healthy Eating Made Simple
Delicious & Fresh Heat and Eat Meals
Never Frozen
Keto, Low Carb, Plant Based Options
Hello Fresh
HIGHLIGHTS
Fresh and Affordable
Make Amazing Home-Cooked Meals
Skip Weeks or Cancel Anytime
Easy to Follow Recipes
Contents
Traditionally, to prepare food, we buy the food from the grocery store and prepare the food at our homes. Or, we rely on restaurant food or fast food. However, the landscape of food consumption has changed. Meal kits and meal delivery services are all the rage these days.
In the United States, meal kit delivery services, for example, are expected to reach 17 billion in 2022. (14) With the onset of COVID and how it affected how we get our meals and the desire to keep ourselves safe from other people and catching COVID-19, meal kits and meal delivery services became extremely popular.
We'll look at two services: Hello Fresh and Factor - what are they, their differences, and how much they cost.
Key Differences Between Meal Kits & Meal Delivery
Before comparing HelloFresh and Factor, let's explain the difference between meal kits and meal delivery services. Although quality meal kits and meal delivery companies both focus on providing you with healthy food without going to the grocery store, there is a definite difference between the two services.
Meal Kit Highlights
Meal kits are kits you custom order every week or less. They are delivered to your doorstep, eliminating the need for you to pick them up. Meal kits contain step-by-step recipes and all the ingredients a person needs to make a healthy meal. The kits contain fresh food and spices.
Meal Delivery Highlights
On the other hand, meal delivery services provide a user with full-prepared healthy meals that a person chooses every week or less. Like meal kits, they are delivered to your doorstep. When meal deliveries are received, all a person needs to do is heat a meal up and eat it. (6)
Factor Highlights
Factor Meals (our full review) (4), also known as Factor75, founded in 2013 by Mike Apostal and Nick Wernimont, is a subscription-based, fully-prepared meal delivery service company headquartered in Batavia, Illinois, in the United States. Unlike Hello Fresh, a worldwide company, Factor is focused on the United States and not worldwide. Factor delivers to customers in the contiguous United States and was acquired by HelloFresh on November 23, 2020. (5)
Users can find Factor online or as an app. To get started with Factor, you get a new menu of dietitian-designed, gourmet chef fully prepared rotating breakfast, lunch, and dinner meal options every week from which you choose.
The meals from Factor are not frozen prepared foods. They are fully prepared fresh foods that users have up to seven days to eat. Users can heat the food either in a microwave or in an oven. Factor offers users four to 18 meals per week with over 20 weekly menu options.
One of the attractive aspects of Factor is that the meals are shipped to users for free. When it comes to the total price of the meals, that is considered for many people looking at their financial bottom line.
Another attractive aspect of Factor is the wide variety of food options offered. Factor users can get low carb, plant-based, keto, low calorie, paleo, high protein, and gluten-free options. Breakfast, main course, and snacks are offered.
The in-house culinary team creates the meals to contain no gluten, sugars, soy, hormones, GMOs, or antibiotics. Factor delivers meals every week on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday based on the user's zip code.
Hello Fresh Highlights
HelloFresh (1), founded in 2011 by Dominik Richter, Thomas Griesel, and Jessica Nilsson, is a meal kit company headquartered in Berlin, Germany. In 2021, the company had approximately 7.2 million users worldwide and 3.5 million in the United States. HelloFresh is the most downloaded meal kit service in the world. (2)
HelloFresh is available online or as an app. To get started with HelloFresh, you pick a plan that matches your lifestyle or your household. You can choose between two to five meals delivered to you per week. HelloFresh also gives you the option of selecting vegetarian, low-carb, low-calorie, or diet options. Specifically, users can choose Meat & Veggies, Veggie, Pescatarian, Family Friendly, Quick and Easy, and Calorie Smart.
HelloFresh typically offers deals like free shipping, for example, on your first order. If you want to skip a week or if you wish to cancel, you can do so at any time.
Users get sent user-friendly recipes from 8 am to 8 pm on the day they choose, with step-by-step instructions and pre-measured fresh ingredients protected by insulation and special ice packs. The recipes have been tested 200 times to ensure that they taste good.
People who use HelloFresh will receive their meal kits typically one to two days after shipping. However, because your meal kits are so expertly packed and protected, users need not worry about the kits spoiling while they're at work, for example. As for the recipe cards, they are packed outside the insulation so that they don't get wet.
Over the years, HelloFresh has done well for itself as a worldwide company. They have acquired five meal-delivery brands. These brands include Green Chef, EveryPlate, Chefs Plate, Youfoodz, and Factor.(3) Let's look into HelloFresh's Factor program.
Which Is Better for You - Meal Kits or Meal Delivery?
It would seem that choosing between meal kits and meal delivery would be an easy task [7]. However, because these two types of services are different, one should take care to examine the services before choosing.
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In the 21st-century, acquiring food consumption has drastically expanded to more than just buying groceries at the grocery store and preparing the food at home. These days, many people are choosing meal kit or meal delivery services to satisfy their food needs. These options took on a drastic increase during COVID.
However, users did not stop using these options after COVID began to subside. Indeed, they continued to use them as an easy and fun way to consume food.
So, the question becomes – which is better for you, meal kits or meal delivery?
Reasons to Consider the HelloFresh Meal Kits
Many people love to cook meals, and some are so adept that they can whip up delicious meals with no need for recipes. These people have no anxiety about cooking for themselves, their family, or friends. These people often love to entertain and show off their culinary skills because their proud of what they can do.
Others want to cook, but they acknowledge that they need lots of help in the cooking department. In fact, some resort to fast food meals or eating out in restaurants to avoid having to cook at all.
The fact is, meal kits are perfect for both of these consumers. The ones who want to enjoy cooking but know they can't cook will love meal kits because they are intended to be user-friendly and easy to prepare. The core focus of meal kits is to teach people how to cook and show them that cooking doesn't have to be complicated.
However, people who love to cook and who have no problem cooking can enjoy the convenience of having fresh ingredients delivered to their homes. So lots of different people can enjoy meal kits.
1. Quality Meal Kits are Healthy For You
As long as you go for quality meal kits, you'll be sent only fresh food and food that does not contain a lot of sodium and saturated fats. Furthermore, meal kits allow you to customize what you'll be preparing, so you can set your dietary preferences whether you're a meat eater or a vegetarian.
Meal kits let you eat healthy food and can significantly improve your diet if you rely on unhealthy food, such as fast food. With the ongoing problem of unhealthy food choices, meal kits are a way for a user to be proactive in improving their health and their family's health. They are also an excellent way for parents to raise their kids on healthy food.
2. Reasonable Servings Are Provided
Many individuals notice, especially in America (8), how big American portions are. According to Judy Caplan of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (9), when you eat large amounts, you're likely to store the extra calories as fat and decrease your metabolism. On the other hand, Smaller meals increase metabolism and do not contribute as much to weight gain.
With meal kits, they send you adequate amounts to fill you and your family up but prevent you from overeating. It's not just calories that can contribute to weight gain; overeating even healthy food can contribute to weight gain also.
In addition to the weight gain concern, there is the problem of food waste. However, when you use meal kits, this contributes to less food waste.
3. There's No Need to Plan With Meal Kits
Many individuals notice, especially in America (8), how big American portions are. According to Judy Caplan of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (9), when you eat large amounts, you're likely to store the extra calories as fat and decrease your metabolism. On the other hand, Smaller meals increase metabolism and do not contribute as much to weight gain.
With meal kits, they send you adequate amounts to fill you and your family up but prevent you from overeating. It's not just calories that can contribute to weight gain; overeating even healthy food can contribute to weight gain also.
In addition to the weight gain concern, there is the problem of food waste. However, when you use meal kits, this contributes to less food waste.
4. You Get Introduced to New Foods
With meal kits, sometimes the food can be not only delicious and healthy but also intriguing. You can get introduced to new dishes and new ingredients with meal kits. Let's face it; when it comes to meal planning, particularly because of the time consumption and not knowing where to look, many people resort to making the same meals repeatedly. With meal kits, you can try new foods, but you can expand your food and diet vocabulary.
5. You Can Adjust or Pause Delivery
Another nice thing about meal kits is that you can adjust and even pause delivery. So let's say you're going on vacation. You can pause your meal-kit delivery until you return. Or, let's say you want to cancel delivery for an extended period due to budget concerns with the option of returning later. Meal kits let you do that.
Reasons to Consider Factor's Pre-Made Meals
When you join a meal kit program, you don't have to go to a grocery store and choose the food. However, you do have to prepare it. Meal delivery services are meant for those people who don't want to do anything more than heating the food up.
However, meal delivery services are also suitable for people who enjoy preparing food and cooking. There are occasions when a person who ordinarily likes to cook needs to save time. A meal delivery service can help.
What are the advantages of meal delivery services like Factor?
1. Meal Delivery Services Save Time
We live in a fast-paced society, and we're busier than ever before. Meal delivery services save a person time. Individuals have jobs, social commitments, and family obligations. A corporate professional works a 12-hour day; a mom is busy with afterschool programs and the weekends spent at her kid's swim practice or other sport - these are examples of busy schedules. There doesn't seem like there are enough hours in the day.
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Meal delivery services cut out the research, planning, shopping, and cooking. You can have meals delivered once a week, three times a week, etc. The time-saving aspect of meal delivery services is one of the main reasons for their popularity.
2. Great For People Who Hate Cooking
Some people don't have the time to cook, but some hate cooking. Meal delivery services are perfect for such people. All the person has to do is heat the food and serve it, and the quality and variety are always top-notch with quality companies.
Quality meal delivery services don't send you frozen food; they send you fresh food to heat up. You can eat good and healthy food without worrying about preparing it or taking the time to prepare it.
3. Get Perfectly Proportioned Meals
Like meal kits, meal delivery services give you perfectly portioned food. Therefore, you get only what you need to eat healthily and fill up. Like with meal kits, when your food is proportioned, you are less likely to contribute to wasted food.
4. Get Healthy Delivered Meals
As with meal kits, if you want to eat healthy meals regularly every week, meal delivery meals can accomplish your goal. Top culinary teams specially design the food you receive to be healthy, delicious, and nutritious.
5. Enjoy New Foods
As with meal kits, you can get introduced to new foods with meal delivery. You won't become as intimately connected to the ingredients as you would when you prepare food with a meal kit, but you can enjoy tasting new food.
6. Adjust or Pause Delivery
Like meal kits, with meal delivery services you can adjust, pause or cancel delivery.
Can You Lose Weight With Either Factor or HelloFresh?
HelloFresh Weight Loss Options
HelloFresh [11] offers healthy food for its users, but it's not designed as a weight-loss program. However, it does offer its Calorie Smart Option. These are meals that are no more than 650 calories per serving. Therefore, for individuals committed to losing weight, caloric deficiency can help a person accomplish that goal.
Factor Weight Loss Options
Factor meal delivery [12] is not designed to be a weight loss program. However, the food is healthy and delivered in adequate proportions for those who wish to eat well. Unlike HelloFresh, Factor does not offer a low-calorie option. However, Factor offers a complimentary nutrition consultation to help with the meals and address users' needs.
What Are the Price Differences Between HelloFresh and Factor?
Some people consider meal kits and meal delivery services cheaper than traditional food buying and preparation if used regularly. Of course, going with meal kits and meal delivery services requires a financial commitment that may not work for some people. Here are the averages:
- HelloFresh is $8 to $11 per serving with an average of $8.99 shipping.
- Factor is $11 to $15 per meal with free shipping. (13)
Summary
The meal kit service HelloFresh and its meal delivery service Factor are two services that can help a person eat better, have fun with meal preparation, save time, and learn about new foods. Deciding whether to go with HelloFresh or Factor will depend on what you seek.
There are lots of examples. If you're a busy mom who loves to cook for her family but doesn't have the time to plan the meals to cook, HelloFresh would be ideal. If you're a corporate executive who hates cooking and would instead focus on his work, Factor would be ideal.
Both HelloFresh and Factor offer the user healthy food to either prepare or heat up. They are perfectly proportioned, which eliminates overeating and waste. Neither services offer frozen food but instead fresh dishes designed by their team of culinary experts. Visit the HelloFresh or Factor websites or go to your app store and download the apps.
Interested in Factor's Meal Delivery?
Hello Fresh Meal Kits More Your Style?
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