Food subscription boxes are one of the latest trends. But are they worth the money?
We live in a microwave society, meaning that we expect everything to be given to us as soon as possible. Companies like Plates and Blue Apron promise to offer all the ingredients needed in order to cook a healthy meal.
Learning how to cook is absolutely essential for everyone. No matter if you’re a young adult or an older person, cooking is essential if you want to save money and eat healthy.
However, I will tell you from the start that these services are not exactly cheap. Considering the fact that you’re paying for convenience, there are some costs you need to keep in mind.
So, are food subscription boxes worth it? Or would you be better off just going to your local supermarket?
If you want to have these questions answered, you’re in the right place! By the end of this article, you will know exactly what you can do in order to improve your lifestyle.
Food Subscription Boxes Overview
Food subscription boxes are agreements between you and a certain company. The company promises to deliver a certain amount of ingredients every month, week or day.
As you can imagine, the prices vary a lot, as it depends on the quality of the ingredients you order, as well as the frequency at which you receive them.(1)
So, what do you get in these boxes? Well, apart from items that you are expected to already own (like plates, forks, knives, etc.), you receive vegetables, fruits, meat and so on.
Basically, you receive everything you need in order to prepare a healthy meal. The best part about it is that you receive these items at the right temperature, so you don’t have to worry about them going bad.
However, as opposed to doing your groceries yourself, you only receive the exact ingredients that are needed in order to cook 1 meal.
Benefits of Food Subscription Boxes
You will receive a manual full with instructions that will teach you how to cook the meal that you desire. This can be very beneficial for people who don’t know anything about cooking, as it doesn’t require any previous experience.
Receiving a step by step guide on how to prepare a proper meal can be very appealing for people, especially if they don’t have so much time on their hands in order to learn how to cook.(2)
Also, it’s very convenient, as all the ingredients are delivered to your doorstep. Therefore, you don’t need to fight traffic and wait in line at the supermarket.
All the necessary ingredients are included in the box, so you can’t get it wrong. You’re probably familiar with the feeling you have that you realize you forgot to buy something from the supermarket once you arrive at home.
Realizing you’re missing some kind of item in order to complete a meal will not be a problem. For some people, this benefit alone can be enough to subscribe to a food box service.
Another benefit that most people like is that it gives them the opportunity to try out new recipes that they might not have tried before. Finding an appealing meal to cook can be very time consuming for some people, therefore they prefer receiving everything spontaneously.
- The biggest benefit is obviously convenience. So, how important is convenience for you?
How Much You Pay For Convenience
Now that you know all the benefits that come with meal subscription plans, it’s time to take a look at how much you pay for this luxury.
We already established the fact that you waste less time when being subscribed to one of these services, but is this definitely not cheap.
To be honest, sometimes the price of a food subscription box can rival with a meal in a restaurant.(3)
On the low end, meal subscription boxes cost around $7 per person (per meal). Meaning that if you were to order these every day for 30 days, you would have to pay around $210.
Keep in mind that this price is per meal and not per day. Meaning that you will still need to pay for your breakfast and dinner.
Also, remember that this price is for the most affordable food subscription box, so you might not even like it sometimes. That means that if you are on any type of diet or regime, you will need to pay even more.
In some cases, the price can go up to $25 per meal. Therefore, you would need to pay around $750 per month.
So … is it really worth it to pay so much money for only 1 out of 3 meals per day?
Are Food Subscription Boxes Worth It?
If you make more than 6 figures per year, then you might think that a food subscription plan is definitely worth it. The ingredients are delivered directly to your doorstep, at the same time every day.
Not only that, but you also receive a manual with instructions in case you don’t know how to cook the meal. The lack of effort seems very appealing to some people.
But … is it really worth it? You don’t get anything that you couldn’t buy from the supermarket yourself. It’s just that you don’t have to sit in line for however many minutes.
The recipes that you receive save you some time. But it’s not like the recipes you receive cannot be found on the internet.(4)
The minimum amount of money you can actually get these boxes for is more than $200 per month. Also, if you were to buy items from the supermarket, you will be able to buy multiple products that you will consume in the future.
With these subscriptions, you only receive the items you need in order to prepare 1 meal. In my opinion, it’s not worth it.
If you make a lot of money and want to take advantage of the convenience, then subscribing to one of these services might be worth it for you.
However, with the same money you can eat out in a restaurant every day. Not only that, but you also get the experience of going out with your loved ones.
A food subscription box is worth it only if you make a lot of money and you want to learn how to cook. If you have fun cooking and enjoy the process, then this might be a good option.
Otherwise, you might as well eat out or do your groceries in the supermarket if you don’t want to spend so much money.
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Andrew is an entrepreneur and has been in the business game for a couple of years. Read more