Health & Wellness

Looking to Make Life Simpler? Try a Meal-Kit Service

If you’re tired of planning meals, a ready-to-cook meal delivery service might be for you

 

By Katrina Caruso

 

While some may love grocery shopping and meal planning, others find the whole process a burdensome chore—which might help explain why many Canadians have begun signing up for meal-kit services.

The concept—which began in Sweden in 2007—is simple: you pay for two or more meals a week, and a meal-kit delivery company will send boxes to your door containing all the ingredients and the recipes you need to prepare those meals. The meals can be customized, and some services even offer gluten-free choices. The focus is on fresh ingredients.

All the services below switch up the menu options weekly, and people can subscribe without a long-term commitment—though for the weekly option, users need to commit to two meals in a week, up to four or five meals.

Everywhere in Canada:
Chef’s Plate, a Toronto-based company, charges $65.70 for three weekly meals for two people or $117 for three weekly meals for four. Seven different recipes are offered each week.
MissFresh, from Montreal, offers subscriptions for two, four, and six people, ranging between $65.94 and $170.82 for meals three times a week. The service offers a selection of 13 recipes a week.
HelloFresh, a German company, has gluten-free options and a 100% hormone-free meal. For three meals a week, subscribers can choose portions for two or four people ($79.99 or $139.99)
– Montreal’s Good Food has plans for two or four people three times a week ($65 or $115) and offers seven recipes. Portions per meal can be changed anytime.

Serving Quebec and Ontario:
Cook It, headquartered in Montreal, charges $65 for three weekly meals for two, with options for up to six people. The company offers gluten-free and ready-to-eat options, and their meat options are 100% hormone-free.

 

 

 

Photo: iStock/sergeyshibut.