They say the best things in life don’t come easy, but when it comes to meal kits, I would have to disagree. These kits really do let you have your cake and eat it too.
Ordering meal kits online offers major time saving during a busy week, are cheaper than take out, and the meal planning they provide makes for less food waste and good eats for almost an entire week with just a few recipes.
When it comes to selecting the right meal kit delivery services for you, there are a number of factors to consider including ingredient quality, meal variety, dietary preferences, price, packaging, and delivery area.
We’ll cover all that and more in this quick comparison between Chefs Plate vs Goodfood so you can decide for yourself which is better to suit your unique needs.
This post may contain affiliate links, which means that if you click on a link and end up making a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Read my full disclosure here.
Goodfood | Chefs Plate | |
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Detailed Review | Full Review | Full Review |
Best For | Environmentally-conscious families | People on a budget Cooking for one |
Delivery Areas | Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, and the Maritimes. | Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Manitoba. |
Diets | Vegetarian Low Carb Pescatarian | Vegetarian Low Carb Pescatarian |
Variety of Meals | 18 choices weekly | 21 choices weekly |
Cook Times | 10-60 minutes | 15-35 minutes |
Packaging | Made from recycled materials and completely recyclable | Mostly recyclable |
Number of People | 2 or 4 | 2 or 4 |
Meals Per Order | 2, 3, or 4 | 2, 3, or 4 |
Price Per Plate | As low as $9.36 | As low as $8.99 |
Shipping Costs | Free | Free or $6.00 |
Introductory Deal | Six free meals with your first order | $100 off your first order + free shipping |
Visit Website | Visit Website |
Contents
A Bit About These Meal Kit Delivery Services
Goodfood
Goodfood is a Canadian meal kit company based out of Montreal that offers pre-portioned ingredients that arrive straight to your doorstep, with a recipe card and instructions on how to cook each meal Goodfood also has an online marketplace called Goodfood WOW where you can take care of most of your grocery shopping while ordering your meal kits.
Goodfood
$9.46Per Serving
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Chefs Plate
Chefs Plate is another Canadian meal kit delivery service that was acquired by German meal kit giant HelloFresh in 2018. (See how HelloFresh measures up to both Chefs Plate and Goodfood.)
Chefs Plate offers a similar model to Goodfood in that meal kits are ordered online and delivered to your home or office. Unlike Goodfood, they do not offer an online marketplace that could replace your local grocery store.
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Are Chefs Plate and Goodfood the same company?
Although similar in their business model, Chefs Plate and Goodfood are not the same company. Chefs Plate is owned by Hello Fresh and Goodfood is owned by two former investment banking analysts. They are two completely separate and competing entities.
Where does Chefs Plate food come from?
Chefs Plate has built relationships with national and local farmers, fishers, growers, and suppliers to source fresh produce and protein, and to curate the freshest experience for their customers.
Notably, Chefs Plate orders exactly what they need from their suppliers each week, which reduces food waste. There is also minimal food waste in each of their meal kits.
Where does Goodfood food come from?
Goodfood guarantees that 85% or more of its ingredients are sourced from Canadian farms and local businesses or packaged locally in Canada. Goodfood takes its sustainability a step further by using organic, non-GMO, and sustainably sourced fresh produce whenever possible.
When this isn’t possible due to seasonality or lack of availability, Goodfood promises to maintain the best quality to price ratio available on the market so you’ll always get your money’s worth.
Chefs Plate vs. Goodfood: A Detailed Comparison
1. Variety
Goodfood
Goodfood offers a wide variety of lunch and dinner meal options that serve two or four people. They rotate through 18 new recipes each week and you can view the upcoming recipes four weeks in advance.
Goodfood also offers more meat dishes than Chefs Plate so Goodfood’s meal kits are ideal for you if you like a wide variety of meat dishes to choose from.
These 18 recipes are split into five categories:
- Easy Prep: Meals with a shorter cook and prep time—some as low as 10 minutes.
- Classic: Classic dishes or the usual meat, potatoes (carbohydrates), and vegetable type of plates.
- Family-Style: Large meals that are typically served in or on a large dish or platter for sharing.
- Vegetarian: No meat but some dairy included.
- Clean15: Goodfood’s low carb option.
Chefs Plate
Chefs Plate offers the same meal options as Goodfood (lunch and dinner) that also serve two or four people. They rotate through 22 recipes each week (that’s four more meal options than Goodfood) but you can only view upcoming recipes up to three weeks in advance instead of Goodfood’s four weeks in advance.
Chefs Plate offers more vegetarian options than Goodfood so these meal kits are ideal for vegetarians or those wanting to cut back on their meat intake.
Their meal categories include:
- Veggie: For vegetarians or those looking to cut back on their meat intake.
- Spicy: Meals with a little extra heat!
- Quick: Meals with a short prep and cook time—averaging around 15 minutes.
- Balanced: High protein, low carb meals.
- Premium: Dishes with premium ingredients that are higher in quality than normal.
- Celebration: This is a unique feature to Chefs Plate in comparison to Goodfood, Chefs Plate offers meals that are ideal for “celebrations” (usually holidays) such as Thanksgiving.
Winner for variety: Chefs Plate
Reason: Chefs Plate wins this section because of their larger volume of meal varieties and their easy-to-scan labeling of meal categories.
2. Dietary preferences
Goodfood
Goodfood caters to some dietary preferences including vegetarian, ketogenic, paleo, and pescetarian. Many of the vegetarian dishes can also be altered in your own kitchen to adhere to a vegan diet and many of the regular dishes can be altered to work for someone who is lactose intolerant.
Goodfood meals that work with dietary restrictions are often limited week-to-week. For example, there are only three vegetarian meals to choose from each week. Overall, Goodfood has fairly limited options when it comes to meals that work for those with dietary restrictions.
Chefs Plate
Similar to Goodfood, Chefs Plate meals work with some dietary preferences including vegetarian, ketogenic, paleo, and pescetarian. Many of the vegetarian dishes can also be altered in your own kitchen to adhere to a vegan diet and many of Chefs Plate dishes can be modified to work for someone who is lactose intolerant.
Chefs Plate has twice as many vegetarian options as Goodfood (six with Chefs Plate and only three with Goodfood). Their wider variety of recipes, in general, makes it easier for those with dietary restrictions to find meals that suit their needs or that can easily be altered to fit their needs.
Winner for dietary preferences: Chefs Plate
Reason: Truthfully, neither company passes with flying colours in this round due to their lack of meals that cater to dietary restrictions and filtering options during the menu browsing section. That being said, Chefs Plate offers a wider variety of meals in general which naturally means more meal options for those with special dietary requirements.
3. Price
Goodfood
Goodfood meals range from $9.36 to $12.56 per plate and the shipping is free on all orders. The minimum order for a Goodfood meal kit with free shipping is $72.67. This includes three meals for two people.
What’s interesting about Goodfood is that they do not offer a ‘two recipes for two people’ bundle like Chefs Plate does. If you want to order two meals with Goodfood, it has to be for four people.
Chefs Plate
Chefs Plate meals range from $8.99 to $9.99 per plate and shipping is free on all orders except when you order two meal kits that serve two people, then the shipping cost is $6. So, the minimum order to receive free shipping is $59.94. That includes three meals that serve two people.
Winner for price: Chefs Plate
Reason: Even with the $6 shipping cost for someone ordering two meals, Chefs Plate’s total cost per plate is still less than Goodfood’s. Since each company’s portion sizes are about the same, it’s fair to say that Goodfood will end up costing you more money in the long run and Chefs Plate is the meal box to go with if you want to save money.
4. Packaging
Goodfood
Goodfood meal kit deliveries come with the following packaging:
- Insulated cardboard box: One large insulated cardboard box that helps the contents stay fresh and cool for up to six hours.
- Recipe cards: Large recipe cards with ingredient lists and cooking instructions.
- Plastic meal bags: Ingredients such as produce, carbohydrates, sauces, etc. are packaged in the meal bags.
- Additional ingredients: Meats, cheeses, and other ingredients that need to stay cooler are typically found underneath the meal bags close to the ice pack.
- Ice pack: One large non-toxic ice pack at the bottom of the box.
Goodfood’s packaging is made entirely from recycled materials, which means the whole kit and its contents can be recycled, depending on your location. Goodfood also offers two sustainability programs called the Box Pick-Up Program and the Reusable Box Program. These have been temporarily suspended due to COVID-19, but when they are re-launched they will be an excellent way for environmentally-conscious consumers to reuse their meal kit boxes and help prevent excess waste.
Goodfood is currently working on incorporating compostable packaging into their meal kits and is the first meal kit delivery company to use fully electric refrigerated vehicles for deliveries.
Chefs Plate
Similar to Goodfood, this is the packaging breakdown you can expect with a Chefs Plate order:
- Insulated cardboard box: One large insulated cardboard box that helps the contents stay fresh and cool for up to six hours.
- Recipe cards: Larger recipe cards with ingredient lists and cooking instructions.
- Plastic meal bags: Unlike Goodfood, Chefs Plate uses brown paper bags in their meal kits. These hold the same ingredients as Goodfood listed above.
- Additional ingredients: Meats, cheeses, and other ingredients that need to stay cooler are typically found underneath the meal bags close to the ice pack.
- Ice packs: Several non-toxic ice packs at the bottom of the box.
Winner for packaging: Goodfood
Reason: Goodfood uses more plastic than Chefs Plate but their kits are made up of entirely recycled materials and are completely recyclable. Plus, their box programs put them a step ahead of Chefs Plate in this section.
Which one is better Chefs Plate or Goodfood?
When it comes to Chefs Plate vs. Goodfood, I think the better meal kit is Chefs Plate. They outperformed Goodfood in meal variety, dietary preference options, and price. The only area that Goodfood came out on top was in the packaging.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, both meal kits are incredibly similar. The types of meals available, the ease of ordering and cooking, and the portion sizes are all comparable.
My opinion? Try both to see which you like best. If you know someone who currently uses Chefs Plate, you can ask them for a referral code to see if you can get your first box completely for free.
Let me know in the comment section below which company you prefer.