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Imagine you arrive home after a long day of work. You’re starving and are tempted to order dinner in, even though that doesn’t line up with your budget or your fitness plan. You sigh and resign yourself to cooking a quick meal instead, similar to what you ate last night. Then, you remember something exciting – Hello Fresh is waiting for you at home!
Hello Fresh is a meal delivery service that sends recipes and healthy ingredients right to your front door. This service makes cooking easy and fun. It provides you with new ideas, allows you to personalize recipes and reduces grocery shopping time. Of course, you don’t always have time to cook these meals right away. Here’s how long you can expect Hello Fresh ingredients to last.
You can order Hello Fresh meals to feed either two or four people. The company works to reduce food waste by perfectly portioning your ingredients. Meals arrive in a specially packaged box that ensures ingredients stay at the peak of freshness. Hello Fresh’s packaging changes depending on the climate and time of year.
For example, winter boxes may not include as many ice packs. However, summer boxes are carefully packed so that meat will remain at a safe temperature until you can store it inside your home. According to the company website, insulated boxes can safely stay out of the fridge for about 24 hours after delivery.
Meat is the most temperamental item in a Hello Fresh box. Although you could wait 24 hours after delivery, it’s best practice to move meat into your fridge or freezer as soon as possible. Frozen meat will last much longer, so that’s a good option if you know you won’t be cooking your Hello Fresh meals right away.
As a general rule of thumb, beef should be used five days after being stored in the fridge. However, seafood, pork and chicken should be consumed earlier – after about two days in the fridge. If you store meat in the freezer, you can safely use it months later. However, age and freezer burn will eventually affect its taste and quality.
Hello Fresh typically packages meat separately from other meal ingredients. However, all other ingredients for a meal will be included in a single bag. After receiving your box, you should open these bags so you can store each item appropriately. Some vegetables like peppers will do better in the fridge.
However, other food items shouldn’t be refrigerated – like tomatoes. As long as the fridge won’t ruin an item’s texture, it’s a good idea to refrigerate it. Some vegetables also last much longer if they’re stored in a bag – like cucumbers and zucchini. Properly stored, all vegetables should stay fresh for about a week.
If you open your box and notice that something isn’t right, you should contact customer service right away. Depending on the situation, Hello Fresh may send you a refund to cover the cost of a specific item that’s missing or gone bad. You’ll be able to tell if something has spoiled by its smell or texture – veggies will be slimy and meat will smell rotten.
Hello Fresh’s boxes are designed to prevent spoilage from happening. However, like all good companies, it’s possible for them to make a mistake. If your box arrives on a particularly hot day and its ingredients weren’t incredibly fresh to begin with, it’s possible that some of your food will spoil. Fortunately, Hello Fresh has excellent customer service and should respond positively if you notify them.
Hello Fresh sends fresh ingredients and fun recipes right to your door. Instead of going grocery shopping or searching for recipes, you’ll be able to cook a delicious meal as soon as you walk through the door. Hello Fresh is nourishing, exciting and convenient – and the company’s ingredients are packed for optimum freshness.
How long do Hello Fresh ingredients last? That depends on how you store them. Meat should be frozen and veggies put in the fridge in appropriate bags until you’re ready to use them. If something in your box isn’t as fresh as it should be, you can contact customer service to ask about a refund.
