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Monday, June 23rd
Green Chef is USDA certified organic and sources quality farms for its meal delivery services. Here you'll find chef-curated recipes in many different categories that can be customized to fit your lifestyle. With eight plans to help you plan your menus, you can probably find something that fits. You can also choose your number of meals per week (three or four) and servings per meal (two, four, or six).
Lots of categories to choose from
Green Chef has eight science-backed meal plan categories to choose from to help you with designing your menus:
As with many other meal delivery services, you can mix-and-match these lifestyle preferences or choose to focus on one in particular. You'll always have access to the full menu at Green Chef, but the lifestyle preference(s) you select will always show first when you are planning your upcoming meal deliveries.
Amazing introductory discounts
You might spot an offer popping up when you first visit the Green Chef site. Ours invited us to pick a bowl to reveal a discount; we got $100 off across four boxes if we provided our email address. We also saw that shipping was usually $9.99, but our meal selection page said we'd gotten it free. (But we're not sure if that would continue to apply for future orders.) Also, when we went to browse away from the site without completing our offer, we got an upgraded offer of $140 off five boxes - it might be worth a try for you too. Plus, if you're a teacher, first responder, medical provider, or member of the military, be sure to click that link at the bottom of the Green Chef site for your always-available discount.
Pattern of poor customer service
That's about the end of the potentially positive things we could say about Green Chef as a meal delivery company. There are consistent customer comments indicating that there are quality issues with the way boxes are packed (meat tray leaked liquid all over everything, produce was damaged) and, of course, the seemingly insurmountable industry problem with shipping delays or poor shipping practices. Other frequent complaints involve missing ingredients or unusable produce. It would be different if these were one-off issues, but those who've had quality control issues with bad produce or poor packing are regularly met with disrespectful and downright rude responses from Green Chef's customer service team. People have not been credited for things like moldy food or missing ingredients. Meals that were clearly skipped show up anyway with no recourse or reimbursement.
0% positive ratings in the past twelve months out of 174 reviews
It gets worse. Skips and pauses are consistently ignored. One Green Chef customer even took screenshots to show an increase in totals on invoices that changed after checkout. Customer service does not resolve the issue to the satisfaction of the customer, and subscribers are charged even after canceling over the phone. Complaints are full of pictures of severely rotten vegetables, clearly bad cuts of meat and rancid, defrosted shrimp. Missing deliveries are neither refunded nor compensated as a credit. We are very disappointed in this.
Be careful with your credit card information
Even with incredibly good introductory offers, we would warn you away from sharing your credit card information with this company. Too many customers have complained about unwanted charges - even when they didn't finish the sign-up process. Skipping shipments or canceling altogether can be a nightmare, according to some Green Chef subscribers. If you really must try it, consider using PayPal, which allows you to cancel subscriptions on their end rather than the Green Chef's.
Worst meal delivery service in our rankings
Even the most delicious recipes and fabulous meal plans are not worth it if you are continually gaslighted by customer service representatives about ongoing quality control problems. Consumers pay a premium for meal delivery services for only one reason: to reduce stress. If the meal delivery service increases your stress with missing ingredients, shipments, or unwanted charges, it isn't helping you. For this reason, we have ranked Green Chef at the very bottom of our list.
Like us, our food choices are distinctive and individual. The booming prepared meal delivery services industry is a reflection of that. Choosing a meal kit from all the choices available depends on a lot of factors - the most important of which is the reason why you are looking for an easier way to nourish yourself in the first place.
Perhaps you are dealing with a chronic illness that can be helped by altering your diet. Maybe you need to take a break from cooking because you are going through significant changes in your life. It is possible that your young family is too busy with extracurricular activities, playdates, and obligations to find time for menu planning and grocery shopping.
Perhaps you are a senior who needs a fully prepared meal solution. Maybe you are just tired of takeout and food waste and only want the food you know you will cook. Or you're a rotten cook who wants to learn how to prepare a meal that isn't too dry or undercooked. Meal delivery services can help you and your family's mental and physical health, regardless of your circumstances or motivations.
A meal delivery service can alleviate the burden of preparing entirely different menus for you and your loved ones in cases where families have multiple dietary restrictions. So if you need a diet to deal with the effects of menopause but your partner is weightlifting and needs a high protein diet, a meal delivery service can cover that. You only receive the food you actually eat with these services because everything is pre-portioned. Some kits even do the prep work of chopping, slicing, and cooking grains for you.
Meal delivery services typically keep things simple while still ensuring that your food is tasty and satisfying. Some are kits that take just five or six steps to prepare. There are others who promise 30-minute meal prep time. If you are interested in learning how to cook but are short on time, a meal kit subscription could be a good option. You can even learn new cooking techniques from the gourmet meals that some services provide (sometimes for an upgraded price, but it is worth it). In no time at all, you will be able to confidently claim the title of "home chef." And, for individuals who are mindful of their budget, there are companies that specialize in delivering affordable home-cooked meals.
If you are concerned about the environment, you can find a number of meal delivery options that adhere strictly to regulations regarding responsible fishing and provide only the healthiest ingredients in their prepared meals. Although not certified organic, many businesses are now buying from local farms that follow rigorous standards for the humane treatment of animals and for healthy, delicious produce.
There are meal delivery services that will teach you new skills but will also require you to do some prep work, and there are other services that will deliver meals that only require 15 minutes to make. Incredibly detailed recipe cards and easy-to-follow instructions are provided by most brands, making meal preparation accessible to even the youngest family members. Some people find the recipes on these cards to be so useful that they opt to keep them for when they want to make the same dish on their own.
Our mouths watered while researching today's most popular meal delivery options. Before you choose your ideal service, there are a few things we think are important:
To give you the most worry-free experience with choosing a meal delivery service, the experts at Top Consumer Reviews have spent hours looking at every aspect and facet of the most popular companies on the market today. We hope this helps you find a solution to creating healthy, delicious mealtimes - where you can create loving memories around the common, everyday act of providing a hot, home cooked meal with joy.
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