So you’re considering a meal kit to simplify your life. Makes sense. You’re busy. You have an endless list of to-dos and “dinner” and “grocery shopping” are always on the top of your list. You have a few go-to’s that you learned from your mom or grandma but how many times can you eat the same pan-roasted chicken before it starts to get old? To make matters even more complicated, you now have the most particular eater…. A toddler. Do meal kits make sense for a family with young children?

 

Let’s Talk to People

We polled families on IG and FB to find out. So let’s dive in… Respondents have tried a variety of kits including:

• Hello Fresh
• Blue Apron
• Home Chef
• Sun Basket
• Purple Carrot
• Freshly
• Green Chef
• Gobble
• Daily Harvest
• Dinner Affair
• Every Plate
• Factor Meals
• Marley Spoon

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Hello Fresh

It seems that Hello Fresh is the clear favorite at 53.8% of voters  This service set the standard for box meal kits: pay weekly, receive a box with ingredients and meal cards. They have an app available for iPhone and android with over 37k reviews that is very user-friendly and simple to navigate.

Our audience gave Hello Fresh the highest reviews with over 92.8% of users rating their overall experience as “Very Happy” and 83.4% expressing that they are “Very Happy” or “Moderately Happy” with the cost of their kits

Hello Fresh is also committed to reducing carbon emissions. The company recently published an independent report that highlights that meal kits “have an average of 31% lower carbon emissions than meals with ingredients from supermarkets in the United States.”

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Every Plate

In the second place, 17.7% of voters use or have used Every Plate. Fun fact: Easy Plate is owned and operated by Hello Fresh. In fact, most of the meals are very similar if not the same. This service is a more cost-efficient version for families looking to save some money. 

They are able to accomplish this by reducing waste inside your box. With Hello Fresh, each meal comes nicely packaged in its own bag. Whereas with Easy Plate, you’ll find that all of your week’s items are placed in the box. This option also has an app with 22k reviews and 5 stars.

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Factor Meals

In third place, at 14.4% of users was Factor Meals. This meal service kit is unique from others in that the meals are pre-cooked and simply need to be heated in a microwave or oven. Factor has a simple-to-use app with 15k reviews and 5 stars. 

This kit is a bit more expensive than the others mentioned but there are 6 pricing options to choose from. 75% of factor users that we polled expressed that they were “Very Happy” or “Moderately Happy” with the service overall and but only 25% were happy with the cost.

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Poller Satisfaction

All three options left 84.6% of voters “very happy” or “moderately happy”  with the food. Voting also revealed that 69.29% of people were “happy” or “moderately happy” with the cost of their meal kits.  In fact, voters are so happy with their kits that 92.3% of them would recommend their kits to friends and family!

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What About Kids..?

So here comes the most interesting part. The vast majority of voters enjoy their kits, so much so that they are sending those codes and cards to their loved ones (if you know, you know!) BUT most of them report that their kids are NOT eating the meals. 

One poller revealed that “We love meal kits as adults, but wish they offered more kid-friendly options to add into the deliveries!”

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In fact, 30.8% of voters report that their kids will eat NONE of the meals and only 15.4% of people find that their kids eat all of the meals. 

Are we surprised that kids don’t eat meals? No. Were we surprised that people still love their kits? Yes!

Eating Like A “Grown-Up” Again!

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When you have kids, the challenge quickly becomes how to keep your dinners from being dominated by the whims of your toddler and young children. We oftentimes find ourselves either making two meals or eating foods that are geared toward our children’s preferences. 

Sometimes, you might have to whip up a “toddler” meal, weren’t you already doing that? You can rely on the convenient meal that comes with most of the ingredients without spending any time on Pinterest looking up new recipes. Meal kits offer busy families, oftentimes parents who both work, a chance to break up the need for eating out or picking up dinner. It brings everyone back to the table to eat together, even if the kids are not sharing what the parents are eating!

Time Saver

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Kits also offer families something precious: a little bit of their time back! Between cutting down on time spent grocery shopping and the task of planning out your meals for the week, kits can reduce the time you have to spend worrying about dinners. 

One voter noted that she, “love(s) how easy it is to make and how it fits for my husband’s and my eating plan.” 

 

Bottom Line: Do Kits Make Sense?

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So…do meal kits make sense for a family with young children? Yes, and No! Meal kits might not give your child the meal that they will eat. You might have to modify the meals they send to entice your child to eat. You might even have to make a last-minute bowl of spaghetti. 

But so what? There are still so many great reasons your family and YOU can personally benefit from your meal kit! 

Have you used a meal kit yet? If so, tell us about it, and comment below!