Hot & Savoury update - real talk

Hey Hex!

It’ll still be available in pot form but only for the UK.

This is why we’ve come together on the forum and other channels today to be as open and honest as we possibly can be with the future direction of our Hot & Savoury variety.

I understand your concerns. We try and keep them as different as we can. The work that goes into the flavour profiles, the fillings etc really is what separates the flavours and makes them stand out.

This isn’t finalised but this is a render of what it looks like

The introduction of Hot & Savoury Meal Packs comes after careful research and analysis. We’re proud of our Hot & Savoury range, however one of the main issues customers have had is with the consistency. Due to the separation in the pouch between big pieces of pasta and small powder particles, some portions end up heavy on pasta, and others heavy on sauce. No matter how thoroughly the pouch is mixed, it will always lead to uneven portions, resulting in potential nutrition inaccuracies and an inconsistent taste and texture experience.

With Meal Packs, all you need to do now is tear open the pouch, pour the contents into your bowl or reusable cup and continue with your usual water instructions. The perfect portion every time, no scoop needed!

Obviously, there are tradeoffs here. We understand the previous pouch format allowed for more flexible portion sizes and compact storage. Hopefully from the information above, you can see that we need to compromise on a few of these to improve the product experience. If you’d prefer a larger portion size, feel free to tear open two meal packs instead of one, or decant any excess Hot & Savoury into an airtight container with a light barrier (i.e. not clear plastic) and store in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight.

That’s okay! We wanted to make sure you were all informed the best we could so glad you feel this way :heart:

Seems like this new change will be perfect for you! :star2:

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That’s not a viable option; too much waste & more expensive than the bags. :-1: :-1:

I’ll never buy the pots.

Yes in fact it will! Thank you :slightly_smiling_face:

I have never understood Huel’s stubborn fixation on 400kcal per meal. Who only eats 400 kcal? If you have to make single serving packs, why not at least make it 500 kcal, or better yet, 666.7 kcal, as that would be 1/3 of 2000kcal.

I’ll emphasize my point with this: (most people don’t make shakes of exactly 400 kcal)

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Hey, thanks Mark. The sachets look and sound great – I’d suggested this a while back as others have, so this move is nice to see. Storing and using sachets will be much better.

Repeating the pot form as the solution though is disappointing. There is no way to spin this positively for people who love Carbonara. Pots cost more, take up more space, are more wasteful and are ultimately pointless to me when it’s going to be put into a bowl/plate anyway.

A company charging customers 1 price for something they have regularly, then removing it and replacing with a higher priced version of the same thing, is not good and just frustrates longterm customers. I buy 1 or 2 bags of Carbonara every month and would have been more than happy buying the sachets – how is putting Spaghetti Carbonara into a pot much different than into a sachet if a pouch was possible before and the other flavours work fine?

Regarding pot flavours, yes the flavour profiles/seasonings are different, but the filling/texture is mostly the same generic uninspiring formula, even with Hoisin Duck which is illogical to use chicken chunks in while having ample opportunity to make it more like other vegan hoisin duck meals out there. Despite feedback given, the most recent flavour still followed this same generic template, which has put me off pots even more.

Appreciate the in-depth detail and transparency in the original post, but it doesn’t make it any less disappointing. It ultimately means myself and my family will be spending the money we were spending at Huel for H&S elsewhere now. If Carbonara had been kept in sachet form, this would have definitely countered the bad and been fine, but sorry, removing flavours entirely while forcing a loved flavour into a higher priced, more wasteful version is :-1:

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Price is remaining the same….for now….i wouldn’t hold your breath on that tho

I like the idea of a variety pack.

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I’d say its the katsu curry. bolognese is a close 2nd.

Good to hear the flavor is the same, if the consistency is resolved then I guess this would be exactly like the pot but cheaper? Is it looking like prices will stay the same or at least cheaper than pots? As then its a no brainier to go with the sachets over pots, at least price wise.

I’m not sure tbh, I think a risotto type one would go down well. And maybe just have the flavors universal across the two product lines? With H&S moving to single serve satchets, I don’t see the real difference between the lines, other than flavors being locked into each if that makes sense

if I’m being realistic I don’t see what justifies the new pouch format versus existing pots?

the pricing being lower is something i can only assume will change in due time, and the number of meals bought per unit is basically the same (6 vs 7)

if the bags aren’t workable i’d personally rather see the effort go into making pots a stronger offering rather than pivoting to two very similar choices like this

I’d rather they ditch the more expensive pots and just have the cheaper sachets but I guess there’s more dollar profit in the former.

I don’t use a Huel hot food pot and with the pot meals I decant them into a third party thermal food flask or ceramic bowl and eat them from there.

Shipping sachets should take up far less space than shipping pots half filled with air so for me that’s a better option.

And as someone mentioned above, I took have never had an issue getting a decently mixed portion of powder and solid.

I suppose the next step will be to stick the powdered meals back into single serve sachets as they had 8 years ago.

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Say it isn’t so! The reusable big bags are an added bonus with powders. I’d miss them.

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This is really unfortunate. I have been a loyal Huel customer since 2018 and this is the first time I’ve felt compelled to speak up in these forums. The Mac and Cheese is my favorite, I eat it almost every day (along with the Tomato). Like many other posters here, I had no issue with just shaking the bag to get an even distribution. I also liked the ability to choose a portion size – some days were 2 scoops, others were 3. Now if I want 3 scoops I have to use 1 1/2 bags? The remaining flavors and the single serve format are a non-starter for me. I guess I will just be removing H&S from my subscription entirely…

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Good choices!

Unfortunately, I don’t have a crystal ball and can’t predict what future world events will impact many different things. However, this single-serve sachet will cost the same amount per serve as your pouch cost per serve :raised_hands:

Complete sense! The reason why the Hot & Savory pouches are being reformed is to offer a better consistency/texture with Hot & Savoury and deliver the perfect portion every time. We allude to why the pouch format doesn’t work for some of our range but fundamentally it comes down to Bad product experience and A mismatch in expectations vs reality. Both of which we are trying to correct with this change :heart:

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I get the reason for the reform and support making things better.

But if it helps achieve the consistency we are after and the taste of the product is the same as what we can get out of pots then why not streamline the product lines into one? simplify your processes and dare I say it could be cheaper production wise, you can bulk buy packaging for one line as opposed to two.

It also seems like your locking flavors behind these product lines, from a business view I get it.

To me it would make more sense to streamline it all into the sachets. Bulk buy packaging, costs to the end user seem lower so they must be for you, transportation and storage id imagine would be a lot easier for all parties, and as you say the perfect portion each time, exactly as we get from the pots so why not go for the cheaper route if it achieves the same?

The only issue I see is the packaging being non recyclable, where the pots can be to some extent, but I’m sure this can achieved like other brands?

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I’m exactly the same, been using H&S for years and this really feels like a backwards step. It’s a shame that a few complaints (probably from a noisy minority of people who don’t bother to stir the contents) are causing the rest of us loyal customers to lose much-loved products. Upgrading to pots also works out quite a lot more expensive, and generates more waste.

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Thanks for being with us for so long and most of all welcome to the forum!

Understood, we also had a lot of Hueligans who couldn’t get the balance right hence the introduction of the single pouches.

In terms of a bigger portion, We understand there are tradeoffs with the new format. The previous pouch design offered more flexible portion sizes and compact storage. However, as outlined above, we’ve made these changes to enhance the overall product experience. If you’d like a larger portion size, you can always use two meal packs instead of one. For any leftover Hot & Savoury, we recommend transferring it to an airtight container with a light barrier (such as non-clear plastic) and storing it in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight.

We are still fulfilling subscriptions until we use up the volume we currently have, this will be available to subscribing customers till around the end of April.

Main request is to keep gluten free options (aka the grain versions)

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So very disappointed that Bolognese and Alfredo being discontinued. At this point Chicken & Mushroom is the only product left that I have any interest in at all. Huel was such an important part of my weight loss journey that I started a few years ago to great success, but the products I liked have all been changed or gone away and it seems like maybe I need to do the same. Whatever direction the rest of consumers seem to be going in is clearly not the same as mine. Bummer.

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