What\u2019s on offer in NZ\u2019s meal delivery scene?<\/p>\n
Meal kits, meat packs, and produce boxes on a subscription or try-it-and-see basis: we take a look at the choices on offer from the big players to more niche providers. <\/p>\n
My Food Bag<\/p>\n
Best for: weightloss nutrition<\/p>\n
\n The days of vegetarian
\n or meat-eater being the key choices for meal kits seem distant. Nowadays there are so many preferences you can add to the mix when ordering from My Food Bag. One of the brand\u2019s latest offerings, the GLP-1 Support Meal Plan, for people on medications such as Wegovy and Ozempic, is designed by nutritionists and chefs to feature smaller, high-protein portions made using wholefoods, as both ready-made and easy-to-cook recipes. My Food Bag has also launched a service providing gift boxes, care packages and ready meals without a subscription \u2013 with delivery nationwide and often next-day.\n <\/p>\n
My Food Bag now offers a GLP-1 Support Meal Plan, for people on medications such as Wegovy and Ozempic.<\/p>\n
Hello Fresh <\/p>\n
Best for: plant-based eating<\/p>\n
Rather than having to order an entirely different box, the \u201cMake it Meatless\u201d modularity enables Hello Fresh customers keen to reduce meat consumption to substitute animal proteins with plant-based alternatives in recipes. More pre-chopped, pre-marinated ingredients are being added to save on time, as well as more premium recipes in the \u201cready in 15 minutes or less\u201d section. Those keen to avoid the bounty of beige that can haunt the \u2018family friendly\u2019 plate will love the Rainbow Plate (loads of fruit and veg in \u201ceasy-to-eat\u201d formats), and Easy Kids Dinner which can be adulted by elevating with a few additions. <\/p>\n
Wonky Box <\/p>\n
Best for: reducing food waste<\/p>\n
Wonky Box aims to rescue produce that might otherwise go to waste due to cosmetic standards, adverse weather, or oversupply, supplying produce direct from growers from Auckland and Christchurch depots. A medium size fruit and vegetable box with 10 varieties (including three types of fruit) to feed two to three people costs $32. You can add \u201cwonky\u201d pantry staples to your order, and more recently the company \u201crose to the occasion\u201d including rescued flowers. Perfectly good rescued blooms gracing the table of the perfectly good rescued food you\u2019ve turned into something delicious = perfect match. <\/p>\n
Woop <\/p>\n
Best for: reduced meal prep<\/p>\n
Since launching a decade ago, Woop has steadily serviced the premium end of the meal kit market \u2013 more of the prep is done for you, as though some cheffy elves have swept in to do your mise en place. Sometimes the elves make way for celeb chefs adding recipes from their restaurants to your home dining table \u2013 Nic Watt will return in October with recipes from his three establishments, and Pepper & Me\u2019s Cherie Metcalfe is spicing up Father\u2019s Day with an add-on gift box available now. <\/p>\n
Woop launched a decade ago and has become popular for those short on time, as most of the prep is done for you.<\/p>\n
Bliss Box<\/p>\n
Best for: organic produce, minimal packaging<\/p>\n
Looking for Oooby? It changed its name to Bliss Box in July this year, Bliss being the family name of the owners who founded the business in 2010. The offering remains the same \u2013 organic produce delivered to your door in Auckland and Waikato, with a sharpened focus on supporting dietary needs like FODMAP, Keto, GF and DF. Choose from a lineup of produce boxes like The Big Bliss Box, which feeds a family of four \u201cor a couple of produce lovers\u201d for $89.99, with 8-10 varieties of vegetables and 2-3 of fruit, and allows you to customise to suit your preferences. Or if you\u2019re happy to take it as it comes, the $49.99 value box is a great pocket-friendly option. You can add on other items like grouped essentials (eggs, milk, bread), avocados, meat and salmon. The delivery charge is quite hefty at $18.99 – unless you crack the $150 mark in which case you pay $12.99 – but they say their hands-on and plastic-free packing process means it\u2019ll arrive in peak condition. <\/p>\n
Viktoria and Fraser Bliss and their children. The couple are the founders behind Bliss Box, a fresh produce delivery box service.<\/p>\n
Farmers Box <\/p>\n
Best for: lower-priced fresh produce<\/p>\n
Farmers Box offers fresher produce at low prices, delivered in Auckland, Hamilton and Whang\u0101rei. You can build a box or subscribe weekly or fortnightly, choose from non- or organic options, and choose your delivery day, with next-day delivery an option. Market prices are passed on to customers \u2013 the Hot Deals reads like a straight-up antidote to depressing supermarket pricing. <\/p>\n
Photo \/ 123RF<\/p>\n
The Avo Tree <\/p>\n
Best for: Avocado addicts<\/p>\n
Avoid the avocado lottery and get a happy reveal every time by subscribing to The Avo Tree. They might not know how to use an apostrophe (avo\u2019s what?) but they know how to handle your precious cargo \u2013 gently, with no cool storage. They stock a few varieties with helpful explainers on the differences, and supply you with tips on how best to ripen and store fruit once it\u2019s arrived, and recipe ideas. <\/p>\n
Lots Of <\/p>\n
Realising you\u2019re out of an essential ingredient midway through baking is one of those irritating occurrences that will never happen if you\u2019re signed up to Lots Of, which delivers kits of four or eight baking mixes monthly, ensuring the tins are always filled with Anzac biscuits, peanut brownies, gingerbread, or many more Kiwi classics. You can subscribe for up to three months at a time, the greater the commitment, the lower the price per batch. <\/p>\n
Lots Of delivers kits of four or eight baking mixes monthly.<\/p>\n
Cater Station <\/p>\n
Best for: special occasions<\/p>\n
If you want to feed a crowd without having to think or do, Cater Station delivers boxes of build-your-own meals. Choose how many mouths you\u2019re feeding, then scroll the choices \u2013 from salmon bagels to loaded potatoes and tacos, gyros and banh mi. Also, sweet treat kits to make the likes of ice cream sandwiches, pancakes, and Christmas dipper donuts. <\/p>\n
Cater Station delivers boxes of build-your-own meals, from salmon bagels to loaded potatoes and tacos, gyros and banh mi.<\/p>\n
Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
Meat mailer <\/p>\n
If you\u2019re lucky enough to have enough room in the fridge or freezer, stocking up on meat via delivery can save time and money, and there\u2019s a plethora of butcheries now offering variety boxes to cover all your bases. Check out The Meat Box for the whole gamut of animal proteins, plus pantry add-ons; Greenlea for beef, Ovation lamb, and First Light venison, and Waipawa for premium Hawke\u2019s Bay beef and lamb. The Kiwi Butcher Shop makes cooking for a crowd easy with meat kits like fried chicken, burger bonanza, and work shout \u2013 it\u2019s based in Taranaki with free local delivery in that region over a certain spend, and delivers around the urban north island for $25. <\/p>\n
Dietary needs <\/p>\n
The large-scale meal kit suppliers cater for a range of dietary needs including gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan and low-carb within their wider scope of offerings, and there are some businesses set up to cater specifically to dietary requirements and preferences. Christchurch-based Flip Grater, of GG Bistro and Grater Goods, this month added to her portfolio of plant-based businesses by acquiring The Green Dinner Table, a meal box provider that delivers the goods to make vegan meals for two or four people \u2013 with an option to make things gluten-free for an extra charge. They deliver to customers in Christchurch, Wellington, and Auckland. <\/p>\n
Ready-to-eat <\/p>\n
If turning on an oven or microwave is the only thing you want to be doing, there are plenty of players delivering ready-to-eat meals, chilled, ready and waiting for your appetite to come along. <\/p>\n
Farro delivers a range of mains, sides and desserts and you can add bundles to see you through periods or pad meals out for more hungry mouths. <\/p>\n
James and Janene Draper founded Farro Fresh.<\/p>\n
FED thoughtfully packages up meals to suit busy couples and new parents, for get-well gifting, or to save a student in your life from another week of instant noodles. <\/p>\n
Jess\u2019s Underground Kitchen Gift Hampers range from a night off cooking for a family to multiple meals for a plant-based pal. juk.co.nz <\/p>\n
Tastemakers <\/p>\n
Launched at The Auckland Food Show last month, Tastemakers does away with the recipe card and invites cooks to get creative. Subscribers receive a mystery box of eight to 10 premium ingredients once a month, they get as creative as they like with those ingredients plus common pantry staples like oil and flour, then upload their creations to be judged by a panel of \u201cTasteraters\u201d. There are prizes up for grabs, plus bragging rights of course. Currently available to Auckland-based subscribers, priced at $69 to feed two. tastemakers.co.nz<\/a> <\/p>\n More food and dining<\/p>\n From bold new concepts to must-visit favourites<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What\u2019s on offer in NZ\u2019s meal delivery scene? Meal kits, meat packs, and produce boxes on a subscription…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":75167,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[53893,3390,138,31143,564,58856,9363,4521,130,4977,117,111,139,69,3272,13692,1439,14605,58857,2963],"class_list":["post-75166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-bag","tag-best","tag-business","tag-delivery","tag-food","tag-hellofresh","tag-kits","tag-meal","tag-more","tag-my","tag-new","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-nzs","tag-offer","tag-scene","tag-whats","tag-woop","tag-zealands"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75166\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}