HelloFresh Review - The Definitive Guide for Every New Zealand Household
We evaluated HelloFresh for a number of weeks, tried 15 of their recipes and report on the results here. We provide an overview of the plans, how HelloFresh works, where it is available in New Zealand and what you can expect when you subscribe.
Updated 2 October 2023
Our review covers:
Advertising Disclaimer: MoneyHub may earn a referral bonus for anyone that’s approved through some of the below links. Our research and findings are independent of any offer or promotion. Please see our Advertising Policy for more details about how we make money.
Important: Before reading our review, please keep in mind that our experience in testing all major meal kit companies, while extensive for a study, does not make us an expert in the field. Unlike our other reviews, which can be directly compared by price and offering (e.g. financial products and utilities), evaluating food is almost always subjective, and we urge you to remember this when reading our guide. While we didn't have any issues overall with the deliveries and food, we know that customers of all meal kit companies have different experiences, and some can be very negative. These can include continuous instances of missing ingredients, small portions, damaged vegetables, late deliveries and other annoyances. The good news is that there is no obligation to stay with Hello Fresh (or any other provider).
Our review covers:
- Overview of HelloFresh
- Plans, Prices and Availability
- What’s in the Box?
- Recipe Evaluation
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Our Conclusion
Advertising Disclaimer: MoneyHub may earn a referral bonus for anyone that’s approved through some of the below links. Our research and findings are independent of any offer or promotion. Please see our Advertising Policy for more details about how we make money.
Important: Before reading our review, please keep in mind that our experience in testing all major meal kit companies, while extensive for a study, does not make us an expert in the field. Unlike our other reviews, which can be directly compared by price and offering (e.g. financial products and utilities), evaluating food is almost always subjective, and we urge you to remember this when reading our guide. While we didn't have any issues overall with the deliveries and food, we know that customers of all meal kit companies have different experiences, and some can be very negative. These can include continuous instances of missing ingredients, small portions, damaged vegetables, late deliveries and other annoyances. The good news is that there is no obligation to stay with Hello Fresh (or any other provider).
Overview of HelloFresh
- HelloFresh is a meal kit delivery service that offers great flexibility: it delivers in many areas of New Zealand, has flexible subscriptions and allows you to choose which recipes you would like to receive in your next delivery.
- You get to specify the size of the plan (2 or 4 people and the number of recipes per week you would like to receive). After that, you can select from menu preferences like “Meat & Veggies”, “Veggie”, “Family Friendly” ,“Quick & Easy”, "Calorie Smart" and "Protein Rich" to see recipes that suit your dietary and cooking preferences at the top of your menu.
- They’ve got more than 30 recipes every week, so there’s lots of variety to choose from
- The recipes you choose from have “tags” like “Veggie”, “Low calorie”, “Gourmet” and “Fresh and fast”, so you can easily identify meals with these characteristics (these last two carry an additional cost per serving). You can also purchase additional meals like lunches, soup, sides and pudding, this is covered in the “prices and availability” section of this review.
- The ingredients for each recipe come organised in individual bags, so it saves you going through the list of ingredients and picking out the relevant items from the box (you only need to that with the handful of ingredients from the cool pouch that contains meat and dairy products). Along with the ingredients, you receive very detailed recipe cards, these show pictures and thorough descriptions of each step of the cooking process.
- You can also access the recipes from the HelloFresh app, which and lets you set timers where relevant and shows all the information form the recipe cards.
- HelloFresh subscriptions are flexible, meaning there is no minimum term or lock-in contract. You can change the number of people the box feeds, add extra recipes as a one-off, change the delivery address, skip or reschedule your delivery, and pause or cancel your subscription at any time. The weekly cut-off time for any changes is 11:59pm Tuesday.
- HelloFresh is environmentally conscious and aims to reduce food waste, source ingredients from local grocers and be the first global carbon-neutral meal delivery company. Most of the packaging is recyclable or reusable and their website also has ideas on how to reduce food waste.
Get up to $175 off 5 boxes - discount valid for new customers only with HelloFresh's MoneyHub Offer
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Prices, plans and availability
When signing up to HelloFresh, you only need to choose the number of people you want to feed (2 or 4) and the number of recipes per week (3, 4 or 5). This constitutes your default, but you can make changes from week to week. After selecting your plan size, you can specify the kind of recipes you prefer. The available categories are:
- Meat & Veggies - Recipes featuring a range of quality proteins and seasonal produce
- Veggie - Creative and wholesome vegetarian recipes
- Family Friendly - Wholesome recipes designed specifically for families with young kids
- Quick & Easy - Recipes that are quick to prepare without much complication
- Calorie Smart – Wholesome and delicious recipes with under 650 calories per serving
- Carb Smart - Deliciously satisfying recipes with under 30g carbs per serve
- Protein Rich - diverse selection of protein-packed meals
The category you choose will determine the recipes HelloFresh pre-selects for you, but you will still be able to view the full menu every week (30+ recipes), and choose your recipes. The cost of their plans are as follows:
Number of People |
Number of Recipes |
Price |
Price per Meal |
Shipping* |
Total Price |
Total per Meal |
2 |
3 |
$83.94 |
$13.99 |
$9.99 |
$93.93 |
$15.65 |
2 |
4 |
$103.92 |
$12.99 |
$9.99 |
$113.91 |
$14.23 |
2 |
5 |
$119.9 |
$11.99 |
$9.99 |
$129.89 |
$12.98 |
Number of People |
Number of Recipes |
Price |
Price per Meal |
Shipping* |
Total Price |
Total per Meal |
4 |
3 |
$119.88 |
$9.99 |
$9.99 |
$129.87 |
$10.82 |
4 |
4 |
$143.84 |
$8.99 |
$9.99 |
$153.83 |
$9.61 |
4 |
5 |
$159.80 |
$7.99 |
$9.99 |
$169.79 |
$8.48 |
*A delivery surcharge of $5 applies for customers located in the South Island
As well as the meal plan you subscribe to, there are many upgrades and Extras that can be purchased through HelloFresh:
HelloFresh is available in many regions of New Zealand, listed below in alphabetical order (locations available as of June 2022).
You can find the most up to date list of locations where HelloFresh is available here, and check out upcoming menus here.
- HelloFresh has a range of upgrade recipes which incur an extra cost, including Gourmet recipes (usually premium cuts of meat with a side of vegetables) and Fresh & Fast recipes (meals that are ready in 15-20 minutes with pre-chopped or partially cooked ingredients).
- HelloFresh has Custom recipes that let you swap, add or upgrade certain ingredients, like adding bacon to a Vegetarian dish or swapping pork mince to beef mince.
- You can also add extra meals, snacks and drinks to your order with their new range. There are options like croissants and bagels for breakfasts, ready to eat salads for lunch, quick dinner options, desserts and baking!
HelloFresh is available in many regions of New Zealand, listed below in alphabetical order (locations available as of June 2022).
- A: Ashhurst, Auckland, Awanui
- B: Bulls, Blenheim
- C: Cambridge, Carterton, Christchurch, Clarks Beach, Coromandel
- D: Dannevirke, Dargaville, Dunedin
- E: Eketahuna, Eltham
- F: Featherston, Feilding, Foxton
- G: Gisborne, Greytown
- H: Hamilton, Hastings, Hawera, Hikurangi, Hunterville
- I: Inglewood
- K: Kaikohe, Kaitaia, Kaiwaka, Kawakawa, Kawerau, Kerikeri
- L: Levin, Lower Hutt
- M: Mamaku, Manaia, Mangakino, Mangonui, Martinborough, Marton, Masterton, Maungaturoto, Moerewa, Murupara
- N: Napier, Nelson, New Plymouth, Ngatea
- O: Oakura, Ohakune, Ohope, Ohura, Okato, Opotiki, Opunake, Otaki, Otane, Otorohanga
- P: Paeroa, Pahiatua, Paihia, Palmerston North, Papakura, Patea, Piopio, Porirua, Putaruru
- R: Raetihi, Rotorua, Ruakaka, Ruatoria, Ruawai, Russell
- S: Sanson, Shannon, Stratford
- T: Taihape, Tairua, Takapau, Taneatua, Tangimoana, Taumarunui, Taupo, Tauranga, Te Aroha, Te Awamutu, Te Karaka, Te Kauwhata, Te Kuiti, Te Puke, Thames, Tirau, Tokoroa, Turangi
- U: Upper Hutt
- W: Waharoa, Waiheke Island, Waihi, Waihi Beach, Waiouru, Waipawa, Waipu, Waipukurau, Wairoa, Waitara, Wanganui, Warkworth, Waverley, Wellington, Wellsford, Whakatane, Whangamata, Whanganui, Whangarei, Whitianga, Woodville
You can find the most up to date list of locations where HelloFresh is available here, and check out upcoming menus here.
Get up to $175 off 5 boxes - discount valid for new customers only with HelloFresh's MoneyHub Offer
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What’s in the box?
Inside the box you will find paper meal-kit bags with colour-coded stickers that contain pre-portioned ingredients for each recipe and a cool pouch with meat and dairy products, surrounded by ice packs. You will also receive the recipe cards for the week, which show:
- The colour-code for the relevant bag
- A list with pictures of the ingredients for the recipe as well as a list of pantry items
- An indication of how long it will take to prepare the meal, there are 2 time estimates: “hands-on” and “ready in” so you have a better idea of how much work is involved and when you can expect to start enjoying your meal
- A suggestion of whether you should cook the meal earlier than others
- The list of utensils you will need to cook the meal
- Nutritional information
- Another list of ingredients, this time with two columns showing the amounts needed of each ingredient when cooking the meal for 2 or 4 people
- Nutritional details: energy in kilojoules and calories, protein, fat (total and saturated), carbohydrates (and sugars) as well as the sodium content
- Step by step instructions on how to cook the meal, accompanied by pictures of each stage
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Recipe evaluation
We carried out an investigation of the various types of recipes offered by HelloFresh, and grouped them in a way that might be comparable to plans offered by other meal-kit providers. We subscribed to a plan for 4 people with 3 meals per week and selected 15 recipes from the menus:
Our aim was to evaluate the recipes based on the estimated cooking time, the number of utensils required, and whether or not it would be easy to repeat the meal if you were to source all the ingredients yourself (expecting that if you were to repeat them, they wouldn’t necessarily be on the same level of quality since HelloFresh has exclusive spice mixes). Since taste is subjective, we didn’t aim to rate the recipes based on this criterion.
In this section you will find photos summarising the cooking process from start to finish, starting with the ingredients as provided by HelloFresh, the oven trays and frying pans required to cook the meal, and the finished meal served on individual plates so you can have an idea of the portion sizes.
- 2 “vegetarian”
- 4 “low calorie”
- 4 “classic” (not especially tagged in HelloFresh)
- 3 “gourmet”
- 2 “fresh and fast”
Our aim was to evaluate the recipes based on the estimated cooking time, the number of utensils required, and whether or not it would be easy to repeat the meal if you were to source all the ingredients yourself (expecting that if you were to repeat them, they wouldn’t necessarily be on the same level of quality since HelloFresh has exclusive spice mixes). Since taste is subjective, we didn’t aim to rate the recipes based on this criterion.
In this section you will find photos summarising the cooking process from start to finish, starting with the ingredients as provided by HelloFresh, the oven trays and frying pans required to cook the meal, and the finished meal served on individual plates so you can have an idea of the portion sizes.
Vegetarian meals
We first evaluated 2 recipes from the vegetarian plan. Averaging the information from the recipe cards, the expected cooking time was 40 minutes and 823 calories per meal and we considered both of them would be easy to replicate by sourcing the ingredients independently. Full details can be found below.
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Vegetarian meal 1: Creamy Mushroom & Cherry Tomato Spaghetti
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Finished meal
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Vegetarian meal 2: Sophie's Truffle Mushroom Risotto
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Calorie Smart meals
We then evaluated Calorie Smart recipes. According to the recipe cards, the average cooking time was 39 minutes and 509 calories per meal, and we considered all of them would be easy to replicate by sourcing the ingredients independently. Full details can be found below.
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Low Calorie meal 1: Greek Steak & Oregano Roasted Potatoes
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Low Calorie meal 2: Mumbai Yoghurt Chicken & Roast Veggie Salad
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Low Calorie meal 3: Louisiana Spiced Cauliflower & Kumara Bowl
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Low Calorie meal 4: Mild North Indian Lentil Bowl
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Classic Meals
We then evaluated recipes without any special tags, which we classified as classic recipes from HelloFresh. According to the recipe cards, the average cooking time was 38 minutes and 807 calories per meal, and we considered all of them would be easy to replicate by sourcing the ingredients independently. Full details can be found below.
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Classic meal 1: Japanese Sesame-Crumbed Chicken
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Classic meal 2: Cheesy Hasselback Chicken
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Classic meal 3: Sri Lankan Chicken & Veggie Curry
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Classic meal 4: Baked Chermoula Chicken
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Gourmet Meals
We then evaluated Gourmet recipes. There are 1 or 2 Gourmet recipes every week and as mentioned before, they incur an extra charge per serving. According to the recipe cards, the average cooking time was 42 minutes and 729 calories per meal, and we considered all of them would be easy to replicate by sourcing the ingredients independently. Full details can be found below.
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Gourmet meal 1: Rosemary Lamb Rump & Caramelized Onion
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Finished meal
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Gourmet meal 2: Premium Fillet Steak & Tarragon Sauce
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Gourmet meal 3: Japanese Teriyaki Premium Fillet Steak
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“Fresh and fast” meals
We finally evaluated Fresh & Fast recipes. There are 1 or 2 Fresh & Fast recipes every week and as mentioned before, they incur an extra charge per serving.. According to the recipe cards, the average cooking time was 15 minutes and 1,110 calories per meal*, and we thought that all of them would be easy to replicate by sourcing the ingredients independently, though it would probably take considerably longer to prepare them. Full details can be found below.
*Note: We only cooked 2 meals, but to provide a fairer comparison, we selected 2 additional meals at random to average their cooking time and nutritional information. The adjusted average would be 872 calories per serving and 15 minute cooking time.
*Note: We only cooked 2 meals, but to provide a fairer comparison, we selected 2 additional meals at random to average their cooking time and nutritional information. The adjusted average would be 872 calories per serving and 15 minute cooking time.
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Fresh & Fast meal 1: Chicken Alfredo & Fresh Fettuccine with Greens & Almonds
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Fresh & Fast meal 2: Spiced Haloumi Tacos with BBQ Mayo & Corn Slaw
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Get up to $175 off 5 boxes - discount valid for new customers only with HelloFresh's MoneyHub Offer
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Frequently Asked Questions
How do I subscribe?
You can sign up online through hellofresh.co.nz/plans. From there, you can choose the size of your plan (number of people and meals per week) and the type of recipes you prefer. After completing the checkout process, you will be able to select your meals.
Can I make changes to my subscription?
Yes, HelloFresh plans are flexible so once you’ve signed up, you can skip a week, change your delivery address or plan size as a one-off, or cancel at any time. The weekly cut-off to make changes is 11:59pm Tuesday the week before your delivery. Full details on cut-off dates can be found here.
Do I get notified of deliveries?
Yes, you receive a tracking link via SMS, which you can use to check the current status of your delivery. This will be sent from New Zealand Post or Urgent Couriers.
When are the boxes delivered?
There are different delivery windows available depending on what area you live in. Customers based in the North Island can choose a delivery window between Saturday and Wednesday, while those in the South Island can receive their deliveries on Sunday or Tuesday (depending on location).
Are the recipes easy to follow?
Yes, we found the recipes easy to follow thanks to the very detailed instructions provided in the cards from HelloFresh. As well as clearly detailing the steps, these include pictures of the meals being prepared. You can also follow the recipes in the HelloFresh app, these contain the same detailed information from the cards but you can also set timers as you go along, which we found extremely helpful for keeping track of cooking times.
Does HelloFresh have a mobile app?
You can recycle most of the items in your box. Visit HelloFresh’s website for full details on their sustainability plan, how to recycle their packaging and carbon neutrality scheme.
What do I do with the packaging?
You can put the cardboard box and plastic containers in your recycle bin, re-use the cool pouch and ice packs or dispose of the ice-pack gel down the drain as it’s water based. Your soft plastics (like salad bags, and the wrapping used for herbs and meats and ice pack bags) can be taken to your local soft plastics bin for recycling; you can find your nearest location here. Visit HelloFresh’s website for full details on their sustainability plan, packaging and carbon neutrality scheme.
Can I cancel or pause my subscription?
Yes, you can pause or cancel the subscription at any time. Their FAQ describes how to cancel or pause your subscription.
Can I switch plans?
Yes, you can change your menu preference, number of meals and frequency of deliveries on the account section on the website, you just need to keep in mind the cut-off time for changes.
Can I select my recipes?
Yes, that is one of the main features of HelloFresh, you can choose from a selection of 30+ recipes from their menu every week.
Where is HelloFresh available?
HelloFresh is available in most regions of New Zealand, you can find full details in the prices and availability section of this guide.
Does HelloFresh cater for food allergies?
Unlike other meal-kit providers, HelloFresh does not offer a specific plan for gluten-free diets or any other specific needs. However, the individual sachets of seasoning mixes and pouches of dressings list the ingredients. You can also find full details of all ingredients per recipe on this page.
In your account settings, you can also apply the following preferences so recipes that comply with these requirements are shown first (but you can still choose from the full menu):
In your account settings, you can also apply the following preferences so recipes that comply with these requirements are shown first (but you can still choose from the full menu):
- Veggie
- Protein Rich
- Calorie Smart (<650 calories)
- Carb Smart (<30g of carbs)
- Pescaratarian
- Naturally Gluten Free
- No Pork & No Fish
- No Pork
Does HelloFresh provide nutritional information?
Their recipe cards provide information on the following:
- Energy in kilojoules and calories
- protein
- fat (total and saturated)
- carbohydrates (and sugars)
- sodium content.
Do I need any ingredients not included in the box?
Yes, you will usually need some “pantry items” that you will most likely have at your disposal, basic things like oil, milk, eggs, salt, pepper, flour, butter, brown sugar, white vinegar, etc.
What is the average calorie content per meal?
According to HelloFresh, each meal contains roughly 2,000-3,000kJs (478 – 717 calories) and is calculated on an average daily recommended total of 8,700kJ (2079 calories) per day over three meals.
From the recipes we tried, the overall calorie average was 757 calories, the average calories per meal type was as follows: “Gourmet” 729 calories, “Vegetarian” 823 calories, “Low calorie” 509 calories, “Classic” 817 calories, “Fresh and fast” 1,100 calories (but this was due to the meals we selected, there are often healthier options on offer).
From the recipes we tried, the overall calorie average was 757 calories, the average calories per meal type was as follows: “Gourmet” 729 calories, “Vegetarian” 823 calories, “Low calorie” 509 calories, “Classic” 817 calories, “Fresh and fast” 1,100 calories (but this was due to the meals we selected, there are often healthier options on offer).
Are there any loyalty offers and perks?
There are no loyalty offers from HelloFresh at the time at the moment, but there are various ways to save on subscriptions/
- We're pleased to publish a discounted offer to help you decide if HelloFresh is right for you.
- MoneyHub users get up to $175 off 5 boxes - discount valid for new customers only (valid on all Classic, Family, Veggie & Calorie Smart plans).
- The price of the box remains the same, unless you change the number of meals or persons, choose recipes with a surcharge, add products or change the delivery time.
HelloFresh - Our Conclusion
Important: Before reading our conclusion, please keep in mind that our experience in testing all major meal kit companies, while extensive for a study, does not make us an expert in the field. Unlike our other reviews, which can be directly compared by price and offering (e.g. financial products and utilities), evaluating food is almost always subjective, and we urge you to remember this when reading our guide. While we didn't have any issues overall with the deliveries and food, we know that customers of all meal kit companies have different experiences, and some can be very negative. These can include continuous instances of missing ingredients, small portions, damaged vegetables, late deliveries and other annoyances. The good news is that there is no obligation to stay with Hello Fresh (or any other provider). With that, our views are as follows:
- HelloFresh offers a lot of flexibility in terms of meal selection and add-ons, we very much appreciated being able to select the recipes each week and being able to choose from so many options. We also liked that you have a good choice of delivery times (more so for customers in the North Island than the South Island). The HelloFresh app was very handy to select the recipes and cook along with.
- For our trial, we had one person doing all the cooking so we found the cooking time to be longer than expected (but this will depend on the ability of the people doing the cooking). The estimated average time per meal from the recipes we prepared was around 40 minutes, while in reality for us it took closer to 60 minutes on average to get the meals ready. Both these average times exclude the Fresh & Fast recipes, which HelloFresh estimated at 15 minutes and we found this time to be fair.
- We found the portions to be fairly generous, and many recipes are prepared from scratch so you can recreate these meals by sourcing the ingredients independently (accepting preparation would take longer and the quality of ingredients and seasonings would probably be lower). We also liked that when you subscribe you get access to the full HelloFresh Cookbook online, so you can access hundreds of recipes with the same level of detailed instructions as the recipe cards.
- Finally, we liked that HelloFresh has packaging that can be recycled or reused (although this is at the initiative of each customer's actions), and that there was virtually no food waste. Sometimes the portions were a bit too large but you can always have the leftovers for lunch the next day.
Get up to $175 off 5 boxes - discount valid for new customers only with HelloFresh's MoneyHub Offer
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