HelloFresh and Chefs Plate are two of the biggest meal kit delivery companies in Canada. Their meal kit deliveries make meal planning and meal prep a much simpler task than trying to do it on your own. Instead of going to the grocery store and planning out every recipe, you get to shop by meal and have the ingredients delivered straight to your door. These meal delivery kits are a great way to learn new cooking skills or reignite your love for cooking and truly enjoy your time spent in the kitchen.
But which meal kit delivery service is better?
Both companies dominate the Canadian market and offer a similar experience but they both have their own individual strengths and weaknesses as we’ll outline below.
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Is Chefs Plate owned by HelloFresh?
It is! Chefs Plate is a division of HelloFresh in Canada. You will notice similarities between both sites and their ordering process. Both meal kit delivery services are user-friendly and incredibly easy to use with reliable service and tasty meals. There are a few differences including price, dietary restrictions, cook times, how many meals you get to choose from each week, and the number of meals you can select in each order.
In this review, we’ll compare Chefs Plate vs HelloFresh based on a number of factors and go into detail on the bigger elements including:
| HelloFresh | Chefs Plate | |
|---|---|---|
| Best For | Families looking for lots of variety | People on a budget cooking for one |
| Delivery Areas | Australia, Canada, Europe, United States | Canada |
| Diets | Vegetarian Low Carb Pescatarian | Vegetarian Low Carb |
| Variety of Meals | 33 to choose from each week | 21 to choose from each week |
| Ease | Recipes are very easy to follow. Easy clean-up. One pot. | Recipes are very easy to follow. |
| Cook Times | 20-40 minutes | 15-35 minutes |
| Packaging | Mostly recyclable | Mostly recyclable |
| Number of People | 2 or 4 | 2 or 4 |
| Meals Per Order | 3 or 4 | 2, 3, or 4 |
| Price Per Plate | As low as $8.83 | As low as $8.99 |
| Shipping Costs | $9.99 | Free or $6.00 |
| Introductory Deal | Up to 20 free meals with code HELLO20FMS | 50% off first box |
| Visit Website | Visit Website |
1. Variety
Variety in a meal delivery service means a wide selection of meal options to choose from and different dietary preference choices.
Here’s how HelloFresh and Chefs Plate differ in variety:
HelloFresh Variety
HelloFresh offers around 33 different menu items to choose from each week. They’ve even added a new “Custom Recipes” feature that applies to certain menu items where you can add more protein, upgrade the cut of meat, or swap the type of meat used. HelloFresh caters to many different dietary preferences including vegetarian, pescetarian, and ketogenic. Their meal filters also include grill, spicy, and low-calorie options.
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Chefs Plate Variety
Chefs Plate offers 21 meals to choose from each week. They cater to vegetarian and low-carb diets. Their ‘Balanced’ meals contain at least 20g of protein, less than 15g of saturated fats, and under 100g of carbohydrates. Chefs Plate meals also include BBQ, spicy, and ‘Premium’ recipes that come with higher-quality ingredients than usual.
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Variety & Flexibility Winner: HelloFresh
Since they offer 12 more meals each week than Chefs Plate and an additional dietary preference filter (pescatarian), HelloFresh wins the variety and flexibility section of the comparison.
2. Sustainability & Packaging
HelloFresh Sustainability
HelloFresh meals arrive in a cardboard box with each meal separated by paper bags. Some additional items will be separate (for example meats, cheeses, etc.) and each meal box will come with ice packs to keep the contents fresh and cool. The paper bags are compostable, the cardboard box is recyclable, and the contents of the ice packs are non-toxic and can be poured down the drain, while the ice pack packing can be recycled as well.
The plastic ingredient packaging inside the paper bags can be recycled depending on your individual municipality guidelines. Each meal comes with a large recipe card with step-by-step photos and cooking instructions which makes cooking very easy. Recipe cards can feel wasteful but they are also recyclable! HelloFresh recipes can be accessed on their app so maybe one day they will make their recipes completely digital.
As for food waste, HelloFresh meal kits do not leave much behind. You might be able to save a few carrot-ends for a stew but they do a really good job of keeping food waste to a minimum!
Chefs Plate Sustainability
Chefs Plate has the exact same sustainability approach as HelloFresh. Cardboard box with recyclable ice packs, compostable paper bags, recyclable plastic ingredients packets, large paper recipes, etc. They too have their own app so hopefully they will also move towards a more sustainable approach in the future. Their food waste is pretty much the exact same as HelloFresh so whichever meal delivery kit you choose you can feel confident that you are not being overly wasteful.
Sustainability Winner: Tie
Both HelloFresh and Chefs Plate use the same packaging. Each meal kit will result in the same amount of waste and recyclable and compostable items.
3. Cook Time
The whole idea behind meal kits is to make the cooking experience easier and more enjoyable. This means that meals should be easy to prepare, have a short prep time, are quick to cook, and are easy to clean up.
HelloFresh Cooking Times
HelloFresh meals take between 20 and 40 minutes to cook. They have some really cool cook time filters to help you choose your meals including:
- Quick: Quick meals take 20 or 25 minutes to prepare.
- Quick prep: Quick prep are meals that require less preparation before you actually get down to cooking.
- One-pot: These meals only require a single pot or pan to create.
- Easy clean up: Similar to the one-pot meals, these meals leave very little to clean up.
These cook time filters are perfect for those who don’t want to spend much time in the kitchen.
Chefs Plate Cooking Times
Chefs Plate meals take between 15 and 35 minutes to make. They truly rival HelloFresh’s 20 minute cook times with their 15-minute meals! These time-saving recipes are best for busy people; however, they might feel almost too easy to really necessitate a meal kit.
Cooking Experience Winner: HelloFresh
Although Chefs Plate offers lightning-fast 15-minute meals and shorter cook times overall, HelloFresh offers far more options that make meal prep and time in the kitchen easier.
4. Value for Plate
HelloFresh Value
Like most meal kit services, HelloFresh offers cheaper prices the more meals you purchase. This is beneficial for families or people who will be eating a lot of these meal kits every week.
HelloFresh has a $9.99 shipping cost that applies to every variation of order. So divide the shipping by the number of meals and that is your true total per service.
Cost per serving:
| 3 Meals | 4 Meals | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 People | $11.49 | $11.25 |
| 2 People Including Shipping | $13.56 | $12.49 |
| 4 People | $10.33 | $9.69 |
| 4 People Including Shipping | $11.16 | $10.31 |
With HelloFresh, you are paying just a little bit more for the convenience of not having to go to the grocery store but a little less than you would if you went out to eat.
Chefs Plate Value
Chefs Plate applies a small $6.00 shipping fee to the 2 people, 2 meal order combination. All other orders are free shipping. The cost also stays the same regardless of how many people you are ordering for.
Cost per serving:
| 2 Meals | 3 Meals | 4 Meals | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 People | $9.99 | $9.99 | $9.99 |
| 2 People Including Shipping | $11.49 | $9.99 | $9.99 |
| 4 People | $8.99 | $8.99 | $8.99 |
| 4 People Including Shipping | $9.99 | $9.99 | $8.99 |
This is unlike most meal kit delivery services where the cost goes down when you purchase a higher quantity of food.
Value Winner: Chefs Plate
Considering that HelloFresh and Chefs Plate portion sizes are about the same, Chefs Plate wins the value section of this comparison.
Is Chefs Plate or HelloFresh better?
In terms of reliability, freshness, and quality, Chefs Plate and HelloFresh are comparable.
Both feed up to four people, both have vegetarian and low-carb options, similar portion sizes, and the same convenient online ordering system. Despite offering flavourful and nutritious meals, I still find that I need to add extra vegetables to both meal kits to make them more balanced.
Chefs Plate is more affordable and is a great choice for busy individuals cooking for one but HelloFresh takes the cake on variety, easy prep, easy cleanup, and overall experience.
So the winner of this comparison, by a slim margin: HelloFresh!
Still Have Questions? We Have Answers!
Is HelloFresh the same as Chefs Plate?
They are owned by the same parent company but they are not the same service. Chefs Plate was bought by HelloFresh making them different divisions within the same company that offer slightly different types of dishes and services. Chefs Plate offers recipes that can be created in 15 minutes or less, while HelloFresh offers more recipes on a weekly basis, they take 30 minutes or more to make. If you’re looking for more variety, HelloFresh is likely the best bet. If you’re looking to save time, Chefs Plate is the best option!
Where does HelloFresh come from?
HelloFresh was founded in Berlin, Germany, in 2011 by Dominik Richter, Thomas Griesel and Jessica Nilsson. Their goal is to provide every household with homemade meals that require no shopping or hassle.
Does HelloFresh use organic ingredients?
HelloFresh claims that some but not all of their ingredients are organic. Their primary goal is to make meal kits as affordable as possible and making every ingredient organic would raise their prices.
Where does Chefs Plate come from?
Chefs Plate was founded in Toronto in 2014 by Patrick Meyer and Jamie Shea with the goal of providing farm-to-table ingredients from local and national farmers.
Does Chefs Plate use organic ingredients?
Chefs Plate does not claim to use entirely organic ingredients. However, they get all of their ingredients from local and national farms.
Final thoughts
If neither of these meal kit options appeals to you, there are several other comparable meal kits to HelloFresh. But in my opinion, you can’t go wrong with either HelloFresh or Chefs Plate. My best advice is to give both a try and make your own comparison! Both companies offer entry deals so you can get the full experience at a discounted price.
