The month of September has started again. And that means that we will start again en masse with work, school, sports and other activities. Everyone tries in his or her way to get back into the rhythm, also in the kitchen. Meal box providers take advantage of this every year. Each and every one of them tries to convince you to give their healthy and easy meal box a try. But which boxes are there at the moment? And what is the best meal box? A few years ago we wrote about HelloFresh. But a lot has changed since then. High time for an update. In this blog Hans from Mealbox.com tells you all about the best meal box of the moment.
Table of contents
What is the best meal box of the moment?
There are now many meal boxes that you can choose from. Most people will know HelloFresh, they do an excellent job on their marketing. But the boxes of Ekomenu, Marley Spoon, Willem &Drees, De Krat, De Familiebox, the renewed Allerhande Box and the new Presto from Picnic are also popular. High time to take stock. Comparison site Mealbox.com has extensively tested all boxes and comes up with the top-5 below when it comes to the best meal boxes at the moment:
HelloFresh
Ekomenu
Marley Spoon
All kinds of Box
Willem&Drees
1. HelloFresh:Overall the best box for the meal
Cost: €40.95 for 2 persons and 3 meals
Number of people: For 1 to 6 people
Quality of the products :Good, fresh and mostly from recognized suppliers. Nowadays there are hardly any complaints about it, hence the number 1 best meal box. The downside is that the products are not organic.
Choice of recipes :Weekly you can choose from 14 recipes. An excellent mix, something for everyone. We do see that certain recipes are regularly returned. There are limited dietary options.
Ease of use :Very good, a user-friendly App with which you can easily choose recipes and plan boxes.
Delivery :Very good, many different delivery days + times. Thanks to its own delivery service, HelloFresh offers a very accurate delivery. In addition, you can watch the delivery person live follow.
2. Ekomenu:a surprising newcomer as a meal box
Cost: €41.88 for 2 persons and 3 meals
Number of people: For 1 to 4 people
Quality of the products :Excellent. Products are 100% organic and directly from the farmer. Standard without artificial additives and E numbers.
Choice of recipes :Via My Personal Menu you can choose from 12 handy lifestyles with a total of 20 different recipes. Very suitable for diets such as gluten-free, lactose-free or diabetes. The advantage is that you can choose the number of people per dish. This meal box should certainly not be missing from the best.
Ease of use :Reasonable, via your account you can choose recipes weekly or skip a box. It doesn't work as user-friendly as, for example, with HelloFresh. There is also no App available yet.
Delivery :There are 3 different delivery days where you cannot choose a specific time. Delivery is made by PostNL, about which there are regular complaints. Pick up at an Ekoplaza store is also possible.
3. Marley Spoon:best food box in the field of creativity
Cost: €41.95 for 2 persons and 3 meals
Number of people: For 2 to 4 persons
Quality of the products :Generally good. We do hear from various customers that every now and then a product is missing or simply not fresh. The company is growing fast, but this also seems to be accompanied by some sloppiness.
Choice of recipes :Excellent, every week you can choose from 20 different recipes. Handy tags such as “child-friendly”, “vegan” or “within 30 minutes” to quickly choose suitable dishes
Ease of use :Good, you can easily select the recipes via your online account. There is also a very nice App with this best meal box number 3 with which you can plan boxes and choose recipes. This is also a very inspiring App if you haven't received a box for a while:it contains a lot of tasty, easy and inspiring recipes.
Delivery :There are 5 different delivery days with fairly wide time windows. Marley Spoon does not have its own delivery service. Much is delivered by PostNL. There are regular complaints about the delivery by PostNL.
4. AlbertHeijn's All kinds of Box
Cost: €38.85 for 2 persons and 3 meals
Number of people: For 2 or 4 people
Quality of the products :The quality and freshness of the ingredients of the Allerhande box is perfectly fine. Actually exactly as you would expect from this Albert Heijn meal box, even if it is not the best in the line.
Choice of recipes :Every week you can choose from 9 different recipes. For each dish you can choose whether you want it for 2 or 4 people. There are always at least 3 vegetarian recipes.
Ease of use :In terms of user-friendliness, AH has to lose out to HelloFresh and Marley Spoon. There is no special user account where you choose recipes or schedule boxes every week. The Allerhande Box is more suitable for people who already shop for groceries at AH, and then immediately order 1 or more meal bags.
Delivery :AH has its own delivery service with many delivery days and times. In addition, you have the meals relatively quickly at home. Do you order 3 or more dishes? Then you do not pay any delivery costs.
5. Willem&Drees's organic box
Cost: €41.00 for 2 persons and 3 meals
Number of people: For 1 to 4 people
Quality of the products : The quality of the ingredients is very good. The products are 100% organic and come directly from our own Dutch farmers. Fresh from the land, directly on your plate. Many products are therefore completely fresh without plastic packaging in your box.
Choice of recipes :You can choose from 7 different boxes. The most common option is the “Seasonal box” with a mix of meat, fish and vegetarian. But there is also a family, quick &simple, and carbohydrate conscious box. It is not possible to choose recipes. However, you can switch the meal box every week so that you choose what suits you best.
Ease of use :The Willem&Drees box cannot really be compared with, for example, HelloFresh. The cooking is all a bit more figuring out. There is no recipe card (it's available online), the instructions are quite open to interpretation and contain no photos, and ingredients are not always delivered in exactly the measured quantity.
Delivery :Willem&Drees is run by local entrepreneurs who are each responsible for their own region. As a result, there are ample delivery options and there is a high level of personal involvement. This allows the delivery person to share some info or tips when delivering the box.
Which meal boxes have you already tried?
Have you ever tested a meal box and if so which one comes out best for you? I especially think the ease of use is an important decisive point, but I also immediately regret that I cannot use the slow cooker for these dishes.
