At the onset of the pandemic, many shoppers started subscribing to meal kit services like Blue Apron and HelloFresh. The idea behind these kits was simple: pre-portioned ingredients and easy-to-follow recipes, all delivered to your door—and through this strategy, companies like these found considerable success.
However, as more people started subscribing to these services, complaints about the companies and the meals they delivered began to increase. Customers vented about everything from delayed deliveries to rotten food to sub-par ingredients, and as pandemic restrictions waned, many of these companies struggled to gain and retain subscribers.
Now, a user on TikTok has sparked discussion after sharing an issue she experienced with meal delivery kits, this time about the portion sizes in HelloFresh deliveries.
In a video with over 768,000 views, TikTok user Samantha (@samanthamkyaw) showed a cut-up steak on a plate.
“Me looking at this two person hello fresh portion wondering how this is gonna feed my Samoan bf (and myself),” she wrote in the text overlaying the video.
@samanthamkyaw 🤨🤨🤨 also we like it rare ok #fyp #samoatok ♬ Funny Song – Cavendish Music
In a TikTok direct message exchange with the Daily Dot, Samantha said that the video showed her initial HelloFresh experience.
“This was actually the first box we purchased, and I found a lot of the portions were generally quite small, in my opinion,” she explained. “However, I figured others may find it suitable.”
Portion sizes appear to be a common complaint amongst HelloFresh customers.
“The Hello Fresh portions were so small sometimes,” said a user in Samantha’s comments section. “We stopped getting it lol.”
“My fiancé always eats 2nd dinner after hello fresh,” claimed another.
“Hello Fresh has me feeling like we are on rations! We need to have a second dinner,” stated a third.
A few users even claimed to have increased the number of portions they order well beyond the amount of people they’re feeding.
“I got the family one that is supposed to feed 4. Literally just fed me and my 13yo son,” alleged a commenter.
“I had to change to 4 portions for 2 people!” exclaimed a second.
“I do 4 servings for just me and my husband LOL,” echoed a further TikToker.
Samantha said that following this delivery she did not continue with the service, as she “personally didn’t find it suitable for us as a couple.”
“We would have probably continued if their portions were bigger,” she noted. “The food actually tasted great.”
As for why the portions are the size that they are, some users in Samantha’s comments section claimed that the meal sizes reflect accurate portion sizing and that many people are simply accustomed to eating multiple portions in a single sitting.
“I think it’s 2 singular servings, so theyre assuming everyone is eating exact portions at 3 meals a day,” explained a commenter.
“This is a portion for a normally portioned home,” offered a user. “That’s why I don’t get it because I eat more then the normal portion.”
Overall, Samantha said her experience is not a mark against the concept as a whole.
“I think it’s a great idea and did make the nights a lot easier in terms of the ingredients already being there and not having to think about what to make,” she detailed. “However, the portions were just not big enough. But who’s to say it isn’t suitable for others — everyone is different.”
The Daily Dot reached out to HelloFresh via email.
