Are meal delivery services better than takeout?
Ever wanted to have your own personal chef? That’s what inspired eFresh Meals co-founder Rob Clark to start a chef-prepared meal delivery service.
Unlike most other food delivery services like Chefs Plate or HelloFresh that deliver portioned ingredients and recipes for you to cook at home, eFresh Meals delivers already cooked meals to your door every week. They offer over 40 menu items, including vegetarian, dairy-free, or gluten-free options on a rotating menu based on chef recommendations, customer feedback, and best-sellers.
The meals arrive at your door in a temperature-controlled recyclable package, so even if you’re not at home to answer the door during delivery, the meals stay fresh for up to 48 hours on your doorstep.
In a phone interview, Clark told The Ontarion that eFresh donates meals to Toronto-area food donation centres for every order that they receive from customers. They also focus on using local and organic ingredients when possible, and use healthier recipes in comparison to the average frozen dinner from the supermarket.
I ordered some of eFresh’s meals to try them for myself, thanks to a code for five free meals that they provided. My order included five out of the seven available vegetarian options:
- Chickpea and lentil curry
- Vegetarian lasagna
- Stuffed peppers
- Butternut squash ravioli
- Vegetarian falafel
At first glance, the meals didn’t look as appetizing as the photos on the website led me to expect. This was understandable though since the package had been shipped by FedEx and the meals were in recyclable containers rather than freshly made and plated for presentation.
I tried each of the meals over the span of a week, and it did end up saving me time when I had 12-hour work days, but not much more time than walking to a takeout restaurant five minutes away from my apartment and ordering something there. I also found that the portion sizes were quite small, and as a 115-pound young woman, I needed to eat at least two meals to satisfy my lunchtime hunger.
At an average cost of $15 per meal, and having consumed two servings at a time, it was a little costly for just one lunch. And though the packaging is recyclable, what’s even more eco-friendly is when there’s no packaging at all, like when you make your own lunch or eat at a dine-in restaurant.
Overall, I think it was a unique experience to try this meal delivery service, but in the end, if I’m ordering food, I’d prefer picking it up from a local restaurant instead of heating up microwavable meals.
Featured photo (left) courtesy of eFresh Meals and photo (right) by Karen K. Tran/The Ontarion