- Highly personalized service
- Best for healthy, working professionals with dietary restrictions
- Supports local Canadian suppliers whenever possible
- Uses organic ingredients whenever possible
- Free delivery
- Sizable portions
- No nutritional information provided with meals
- Premium price
Vancouver’s restaurant scene may be a foodie’s heaven but all I want is a healthy home-cooked meal. I know this city has plenty of options for that preference as well and yes, meal kits are great. They keep my dinners varied and cut down on the amount of grocery shopping.
My only complaints are:
1) I still need to cook the meals. I swear, some of the chefs at those meal kit companies are gaslighting more than their stoves with their so-called “20-min recipes”.
2) I can’t control the ingredients. My doctor’s orders are to eat gluten-free, dairy-free, and sugar-reduced as much as possible. I have yet to come across a meal kit in Vancouver that can easily accommodate those dietary restrictions.
But I’m not here to complain. I’m here to tell you about the ideal mealtime solution for hard-to-please people like me: Fresh In Your Fridge (FIYF). You get delicious, ready-made meals that are completely customized to your dietary needs, preferences, goals, and lifestyle. This service is basically like having a personal chef.
I tried Fresh In Your Fridge and let me tell you, this meal prep company stands out from the crowd. Here’s why.
Contents
Voted “Best of Vancouver” Nutritionist
For someone who needs a specialized diet, it helps to know that FIYF has been voted in as “Best Of Vancouver” Nutritionist by readers of the Georgia Straight for 5 consecutive years (2015 – 2019).
While most meal kits have chefs create their recipes, FIYF works with a team of holistic nutritionists who have culinary training. In fact, FIYF founder, Erika Weissenborn, has a B.Sc. in Food, Nutrition and Health from UBC, a Certified Nutritional Practitioner diploma, and she taught at the Institute of Holistic Nutrition in Vancouver.
Prior to studying nutrition, Erika struggled with digestive issues herself. Having learned that cookie-cutter diets don’t work, she wanted to “…create a meal service that could be truly personalized to address anyone’s challenges.” I feel so understood. Bless her.
Highly-Personalized Service
Working with FIYF is a truly personalized experience. When I signed up, they kicked things off with a discovery call. Alicia, my friendly nutritionist, personal chef, grocery shopper, and delivery person, gave me a ring and asked questions about my activity levels, dietary restrictions, and preferences.
Alicia informed me that I could even put in specific ingredient requests each week. So I asked for low-carb meals with strictly local and/or organic ingredients. She spent a good 30 minutes on that consultation.
No chatbots or canned customer service emails like you get with other meal kit companies. Just a professional yet friendly phone call with a real human.
Menu Proposal And Changes
Four days before my delivery date, my nutritionist emailed me with the proposed menu for the week. At that point I was allowed to request changes to the menu for any reason. I requested replacing the tofu with chicken, just because I felt like having chicken that week.
Ideally they would provide an image preview of my meals to get me excited for what’s to come but I understand that that isn’t a reasonable expectation when it comes to a customized meal service. A diva can dream.
Recipe Quality and Taste
My FIYF meals did not disappoint. The food was delicious, fresh, and creative. My first 3 meals were:
- Cilantro Chimichurri Salmon with Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Asparagus
- Thai Chicken Coconut Curry with Brown Rice
- Curried Red Lentil Soup and Orange Fennel Kale Salad
Who knew that dairy-free, gluten-free, no-sugar-added meals could be anything more than barely edible…let alone mouthwatering?
One thing to note is that all my meals for the week were delivered at once. And since they’re best eaten fresh, I had to commit to eating them all within 3 days after the delivery, before they began to spoil
Quality of Ingredients
The ingredients in my meals lived up to the company name. Whenever possible, FIYF purchases local ingredients to ensure freshness and great taste. Ingredients are 70-100% organic.
Cost of Service
FIYF services can be purchased one week at a time. The price differs based on the amount of food you need in a week. Since menus are customized, so are the prices.
You need to book a free consultation call to receive your quote. But to give you an idea of cost, a week’s worth of FIYF starts at $395 for individuals, $505 for couples, and $575 for families. The price includes everything: meal planning, premium groceries, grocery shopping, cooking, and delivery. That comes to $28.75 – $79 per meal.
Yes, this is a premium service but considering how personalized it is, it offers great value.
Delivery & Packaging
Pre-COVID, my Fresh In Your Fridge nutritionist would have visited me in my home and cooked my meals in my kitchen. But since that isn’t an option at this time, I experienced their interim solution. They cooked my meals off-site and dropped them off at my doorstep so that they could keep everyone safe while still serving customers.
To be honest, I’d rather not have someone in my kitchen; although it provides a unique personal touch, it would feel a tad too personal. At best, it’s a bit of a pain sharing my kitchen space with someone else. So I’m glad I experienced their delivery model instead.
FIYF currently delivers to anywhere in the Lower Mainland. Delivery is free.
I chose my own delivery date and delivery window, which was convenient. However, since each nutritionist has a set of clients to cater to, there is a chance your date may be full and will have to move.
My meals arrived in simple brown bags that admittedly could be more branded and less generic. On the discovery call, I was given the option to choose from reusable plastic or glass containers, both eco-friendly practices. I opted for the glass containers which they charged a deposit for.
Surprisingly, the meals were not accompanied by any nutritional information or instructions for heating/eating—a fairly standard expectation—although I’m sure they would’ve provided it if I asked for it. Perhaps it was not included because the recipes were designed with my personal needs and preferences in mind.
Read More About Fresh In Your Fridge
- Roundup: Best Vegan Meal Kit Companies In Vancouver
- The Best Meal Kit Delivery Services In Vancouver
- The 6 Best Keto Meal Kit Delivery Service In Vancouver
Recap: Is FIYF Worth Trying?
Absolutely. FIYF is the unicorn of meal prep services.
It is the healthiest option I’ve found.
It is the most personalized of meal prep companies.
It is ideal for dietary restrictions.
It is reasonably priced considering that you literally get a personal chef, personal nutritionist, personal meal planner, personal grocery shopper, and delivery person.
And then leave your own review to let us know what you think of their meal kit service.
Specification: Fresh in Your Fridge
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