Foodable is an app cookbook with an attached supermarket. All you have to do is select recipes and the app will take care of everything else. The dishes are cheaper than those of the big names in the industry and the customer is not bound by a subscription.
“Cooking box without cooking box” and “shopping without question mark stress” – that’s how you could describe the concept of Foodable. The app is looking for a gap in the food delivery market, alongside the services of the giant Hellofresh and the still imposing Marley Spoon.
Main difference: There is no subscription system like the competitors. Each time you order the meals you want completely free. So there is not just a box coming in the next week. And if you order again, you are not bound by the size of the household, the number of meals or the delivery days. You can reconfigure and pause everything with the competition. But you have to think about that. If you forget to press “Pause”, you simply get the next box.
Large selection
Second difference: Foodable customers do not choose their meals from a manageable weekly offer, but from a large database. At Hellofresh there are around 36 dishes to choose from. Four, five or six out of 36 sounds like a lot to choose from. In fact, the choice is shrinking for many customers. Whenever you only want to eat vegetarian or when you insist on fish or meat at every meal. Or don’t like cabbage, carrots or pork, can’t tolerate nuts, etc.
At Foodable there is no such preselection, there are hundreds of recipes to choose from – even if it is a bit confusing to scroll through them on a smartphone. People with a lot of no-gos are better served here. Strictly speaking, Foodable is an app cookbook with direct access to the supermarket. Depending on the portion size, the ingredients of the recipes are sent to Rewe and compiled there. You can have it all delivered to your home, from a total value of 50 euros it’s free, or you can pick it up at the nearest Rewe branch.
The delivery times correspond to those of the Rewe service. So you can’t order an hour in advance, but the lead time is significantly less than with the cooking boxes. And if you are already shopping, you can buy other groceries in addition to the foodable recipes.
Additional purchases
This is a great advantage for those who don’t like shopping. Milk, wine and breakfast jam can be packed in the package with meals. The prices correspond to those of Rewe, so they have normal supermarket levels. You don’t pay anything on it. But those who primarily look for special offers or stock up at the discounter will be able to eat cheaper.
Cheaper, but for reasons
Foodable advertises that the meals are much cheaper than their big competitors. That’s right, it’s no problem to put together five meals for four people for 50 euros. In terms of impression, the ingredients are actually a bit cheaper. The actual price advantage has another reason. Simple dishes, especially if they do without meat or fish, are noticeably cheaper than the competition – or they don’t offer anything like that. Hellofresh and Marley Spoon are not necessarily expensive, but the combination is a bit sophisticated for everyday life and that needs to be paid for. 5 times 4 costs a little over 80 euros at Marley Spoon, at Hellofresh it can even be 105 euros due to the surcharges for premium meals. At Foodable you can easily put together five meals for less than 60 euros. But as mentioned: Rewe can’t do magic either, then cheaper ingredients are on the menu.
And there is another difference: the competition also includes many ingredients in mini quantities. This is where the criticism of packaging waste comes from, for example when the mustard is enclosed in four small letters. Foodable doesn’t do that. Here the customer has to provide these ingredients himself – at Hellofresh and Marley Spoon this usually only affects oil, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper. As an aid, the app indicates which ingredients are still needed after the recipes have been put together. You go through the list. If the mustard and soy sauce are still there, you don’t have to do anything, otherwise they will end up in the Rewe shopping basket.
Not quite so noble
Either way – the small accessories are not included in the first menu price, they come extra. And this time not in a portion pack. So you will tend to have a residue problem. For example when two slices of ginger are needed or a splash of Worcester sauce. It is also less nice that there are no fresh herbs put together – either frozen goods are packed here or they are dried herbs. But it is well known that there are worlds between fresh rosemary and dried rosemary.
On the other hand, it is positive that Foodable uses ingredients that the big ones avoid as much as possible. Eggs, for example – because of the risk of breakage during transport, the inexpensive everyday food is only very rarely on the menu at Hellofresh and Marley Spoon. At Foodable there is also wine in the sauce – you can then serve the rest. Because of the costs, the big ones avoid this. When compiling the competition’s weekly menu, you also notice a preference for anything that can be stored, that can be transported easily and that is not too expensive. One is amazed, for example, where red carrots can appear everywhere. It is easier to find a balance in the Foodable recipe database.
Conclusion
Foodable is difficult to compare with its big competitors. A statement as to what is better now cannot be made, the concepts are too different. The spontaneity without a subscription is positive. If you like, you can also put together meals with multi-course menus for ten people. As an additional benefit, the app can serve as a nutritionist and even create individualized nutrition plans. Of course, this only makes sense if you use the shopping aid regularly.
In terms of price, Foodable is exciting when you don’t always like to cook comparatively lavishly and want to take away the savings effect of vegetarian dishes. If you want to eat exclusively vegan or meat-free, you get the chance here, but the choice is limited with the big ones.
In view of Hellofresh’s gigantic advertising budget, the offer is a little lost on the internet. Since there is no obligation to continue, you can definitely try it out.