A trip to the supermarket can be daunting for many people. It’s hard to find a park, there are people everywhere, trolleys going up the back of your heels, overwhelmed by all the options, can’t find what you’re looking… I could go on for hours about the horrors of grocery shopping but I’m pretty sure you get the picture. Would you go grocery shopping if you really didn’t have to? For those of you shaking your heads, let me introduce you to Hello Fresh.
“HelloFresh is a new way to cook. Every week we’ll send you amazing recipes and all the fresh ingredients you need to prepare them. We take care of your meal planning and even do the shopping for you. It’s a revolution in your kitchen!
With HelloFresh you’ll stop worrying about what to cook for dinner, you’ll discover amazing food and you’ll be able to provide those you love with a healthy and tasty diet. Say goodbye to fast food and bland, defrosted dinners. Say hello to home-cooked meals, fresh ingredients and mesmerizing flavour combinations.
Our recipes are created by our dedicated food team. We want you to have fun in the kitchen as well as eat healthy food. Our recipes will take you around the world with our wide variety of international cuisines that can each be prepared, cooked, and on the table in less than 30 minutes.”
The Hello Fresh concept is perfect for those who want to avoid that huge weekly shop, for people who have a busy week ahead and don’t want to worry about planning a meal and for those people who aren’t adventurous in the kitchen but would prefer to cook rather than order takeaway.
Here to tell us more about Hello Fresh is founder and owner Tom Rutledge. He looks familiar doesn’t he? That’s because he was a contestant on Masterchef last year.
What is Hello Fresh?
HelloFresh is a grocery delivery service – but with a difference! Every week we write recipes and then pack boxes with precisely the right ingredients. We then deliver these, for free, on a Monday night so people have a week’s worth of dinners (3 or 5 dinners) without the trauma of going to the supermarket.
Can you please tell us about yourself and how you came to start Hello Fresh.
After a (very) brief stint on MasterChef last year I found myself without a job and a real inclination to build a food related business. I started a small dinner service very similar to the HelloFresh concept which evolved into HelloFresh.
Why might people prefer to use Hello Fresh rather than a food service like Lite N Easy where the food comes prepared and ready to eat?
Because cooking is fun! I’m sure ready to heat meals are great for some people but I love getting home and relaxing with a little bit of cooking rather than zapping something in a microwave and eating it out of the packet. All our meals are designed to be easy to follow and achievable in about half an hour.
Who’s the ideal Hello Fresh customer?
Anyone who likes to cook, or wants to learn more about cooking. Our customers are typically people who don’t have time to shop. They may prefer not to plan a week’s meals and spend a Sunday afternoon tackling the supermarket queues. Or just struggle to come up with new ideas for what to cook. There’s more to it than straight out convenience because it’s not as easy as microwaving a meal but there is a lot of fun and a real sense of achievement in putting something on the table that is your own creation.
Do you provide all the ingredients needed for each dish?
Pretty much. Meat, dairy, fruit and veg and most dry goods. We don’t supply general pantry items like oil, salt and pepper, soy sauce etc. It’s a good way for us to keep the costs down and make sure we’re not wasting packaging by providing things people don’t need.
Do you develop the recipes yourself?
There’s a few of us that come up with the recipes. We spend most of our time focussing on complete meals – every dish has at least one side component. And we also like to make sure that every week has a good mix of cuisines from around the world.
Which dish is your favourite?
There are so many – I like the ones that customers rave about like the prawn saganaki and the caramelised chicken.
What’s on the horizon for Hello Fresh?
We’re looking forward to expanding to new cities and building a great group of customers that are eating good healthy food, having fun doing so, and sharing their exploits with each other like one big book club but for food.
“Hello Fresh is perfect for people who want to get home at the end of a working day and have everything that they need to make up a fresh and healthy meal. The planning, shopping, measuring and even the delivery have already been taken care of so it’s just a case of following simple instructions and about 20 minutes later dinner is ready! Forget the take away and microwave meals because Hello Fresh meals are quicker, healthier and more satisfying.
It’s cost effective, time efficient and brainy simple type stuff. There are no minuses.”
“For me Hello Fresh is the ultimate in convenience. Yeah you get all the ingredients, yeah you get it delivered, but for me (not being the most gourmet person out there) part of the difficulty about cooking isn’t the actual shopping part, it’s planning a menu. Left to my own devices my meals each evening would be nice but not very adventurous. I could guarantee there would be a lot of chicken breasts, potatoes, veggies and to be different, maybe a steak. This week, thanks to Hello Fresh, I’m having soy snapper, Moroccan steak, lentil patty wraps, punchy herb pork and chicken biryani. All I had to do is pack it away on Monday night then follow the recipes. Occasionally there might be a meal you’re not fond of, but on those odd occasions you can either tough it out (poor baby) or take out ingredients you don’t like and add ingredients you do (mmmm, chicken breast).”
Up close and personal
What do you enjoy most about your job?
I love that i deal with food all the time. Coming up with recipes, taking beautiful photos, and handling beautiful produce. I love that every week we work towards feeding a large group of people and that they all (hopefully!) love what they eat!
Favourite ingredient to cook with?
Impossible to name one – the best thing about cooking (and eating) is the variety. It’s impossible to get bored because there is always a new thing to try!
Favourite kitchen tool/appliance?
Any thing sharp – my knives, my mandolin, and my magimix.
Favourite restaurant?
Sean’s Panaroma in Bondi. A great approach to food and provenance. And delicious.
When you were little, what did you want to be as a grown up?
A football hooligan.
If you could invite 3 famous people (dead or alive) to dinner, who would you invite?
Winston Churchill, Tony Jones, and Todd Carney.
Favourite movie?
Anything by Wes Anderson.
What do you like to do in your down-time?
Eat cheese.
Name one beauty product you can’t live without? (in your case it might be a moisturiser, shaving cream, hair product)
Nothing really. Not that big into product – is Soap an acceptable answer?
Name your favourite aftershave/cologne?
Is it abnormal not to have one?
Can you please tell us one of your proudest moments to date..
I don’t get too worked up about personal achievements. I was pretty pleased to make it through to the Top 24 of MasterChef Season 3 – but at the same time I remember the first time I cracked an egg with one hand. I was chuffed with that too!
Tell us something that not many people would know about you…
What do you dislike most about grocery shopping?
Thank you to the team at Hello Fresh for letting me trial the service and special thanks to Tom for chatting with me.
Disclosure: Although I trailed this service for free, my thoughts and opinions are my own and not influenced. Thanks.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
What a fabulous idea! I cannot tell you how many times I’ve been stuck at Coles or Woolies with extreme indecision about what to cook and all I want to do is get out of there and be cooking at home or having a rest from work. I also hate menu planning – it gives me a headache! so this looks awesome!