The selling point of factor on other meal kits that are about to be heated is always a double. One of them is that its meals are friendly to ketones and other versions of high protein and carbohydrate diets. Another is that its microwave meal is never frozen, bringing possible possibilities to the actual texture in the meal – the faint fragility of mung beans. Or medium rare filet mignon grilled with charcoal and soft to give.
But over the past few years, these two selling points seem to interfere with each other. Factors noted in the 2024 assessment (6/10, Wired Review) that my colleague Louryn Strampe often lands his prey, but the prey is often associated with the carb-of Carb-of Carb-novicant fare school at Porridgy and Cauliflower Heavy's “Mush-Mush” school. The texture of the food failed, she wrote.
But since Hellofresh purchased Factor, the menu has slowly grown to more heart-warming fares. Starch now turns to potato wedges, coconut lime rice or Al Dente for banning rice. Mung beans, which are often overdoed even in restaurants, also have surprising and welcoming tension. (People can see this evolution through the magic lens of Wayback Machine.)
Over time, Factor has evolved into the best instant meal delivery service I have tasted so far.
Mitigation factors
Photo: Matthew Korfhage
But this is not to say that factors solve the inherent problems of ready-made meal delivery. Of course, the cost is more than the full alternative that most people can afford: lunch and dinner will be charged around $170 for a full week, with shipping.
Pre-cooked meals are never as good as freshly prepared meals: Avoiding the stuffy and rubbery twin horrors reheating is always a balanced act. For every crispy mung bean or bomb-charred broccoli, there is a soft Zoodle.
