We Tried Hungryroot: Grocery Store and Meal Delivery All-in-One

For customers who want to eat healthier on their terms, Hungryroot can be a simple place to start.

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December 29, 2022

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Photo by: MICHAEL MARQUAND

MICHAEL MARQUAND

Hungryroot is an online grocery delivery service designed to help its customers eat healthier based on their specific needs and food preferences. The service believes in letting customers make their own choices rather than telling them what a healthy diet should look like. Shoppers can choose groceries based on a weekly meal plan or a la carte with points. Whether you prefer cooking on weeknights or simply assembling meals with less than five products, Hungryroot may be a grocery delivery service that can work for you.

How Does Hungryroot Work?

Before ordering any groceries, Hungryroot customers are asked to take an online quiz that logs their food preferences, allergies, dietary restrictions, household size and more. Based on the results of this quiz, Hungryroot recommends weekly meal plans and groceries tailored to each customer. Customers can accept the pre-programmed cart or customize it based on a points system. For example, customers can choose to remove a meal from their cart and use those points to shop for snacks, fruit or other individual items. Carts must be programmed by a specific day (usually Thursday) the week prior to delivery.

What Is the Food Like?

Hungryroot is more curated than your average grocery store. Customers can choose from a combination of house-brand products like pre-made sauces, veggie blends and grains and shop from a selection of products from name-brand items (many of which are from small or new brands like Omsom and A Dozen Cousins). Customers will also find a wide selection of plant-based offerings in all virtual aisles. This curation is tailored to Hungryroot’s meal plan offerings, which makes it like a grocery delivery service and meal kit service all-in-one.

In testing, we found the veggies to be fresh, sauces to be well-balanced and meats to be decent quality. The recipes worked well from start to finish and were very easy to follow. We did receive a few products that were past their expiration date in one of the four deliveries we received, but we chalked it up to supply chain issues. Overall, we appreciated the quality of snacks and add-ons in our deliveries. We could tell the brands were chosen with care and we liked being introduced to new products on a weekly basis.

How Much Does Hungryroot Cost?

Plans start at $65 and each plan comes with a set number of credits each week. Customers can add more servings in increments of two or four for $10. According to Hungryroot, the price per serving breaks down like this:

  • ​​6-serving plan: about $9.99 per serving
  • 8-serving plan: about $8.99 per serving
  • 10-serving plan: about $8.75 per serving
  • 12-serving plan and up: about $8.49 per serving

We liked knowing that our grocery bill was a set amount every week and tended to use the credits in a more a la carte way rather than sticking to the weekly meal plan. At times, it felt we could make more of our credits by shopping for groceries solo, rather than as a part of a recipe.

Who Should Use Hungryroot?

Couples, roommates and those who live alone may find Hungryroot works well for their needs. It’s an easy way to start cooking more at home and shop for groceries based on how much food you really need. We also found many plant-based options on the service, which makes it a good place to start for anyone new to plant-based eating. Finally, Hungryroot’s set pricing can help keep your grocery bill in check.

Families, large households and those with children may find Hungryroot is too curated for their needs. Kid-friendly foods, major brand-name snacks and large-format groceries are tough to find on the service. We found we supplemented our boxes with a trip to the grocery store for additional produce, snacks and beverages.

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