A late starter in the forum myself (been a Huel customer for a couple of years). Just taken delivery of the latest version of the Mac and Cheese and gave it a go. For the record, I followed the instructions to the letter, mixed it as per all the comments on here and…
It’s thinner. It doesn’t taste as cheesy (although it is pleasant) but it does taste bland. Pleasant but bland. Summon forth the salt pot and half a teaspoon of powdered English Mustard and we now have something quite palatable.
Considering that I prepared the old mix and the new mix identically, the difference between the two is quite distinct. For example, the old formula was thicker, more substantial and did feel like a meal, whereas the new formula is akin to a clear soup with pasta. I am sure that the calories and nutritional content are similar (I am not going to read the packet verbatim) but it is not as satisfying. I feel it is now more akin to a snack rather than an evening meal…
Now. If we take the assumption that the new products are designed, mixed, prepared and tested by Huel staff, then with the further assumption that the product getting bagged up is the same product, then Huel staff will already know exactly the differences and have released the product knowing this.
So. Moving on. My next move is on my next bowl of the (now called Mac n Cheese soup) will be to sprinkle some granulated parmesan on top to give the stuff some sort of flavour boost. This does go against the grain somewhat as we should be buying complete food here, which includes flavour. To have to add extras is not really what we should have to do.
In parallel, my partner prepared a Mac n cheese at the same time, again, packet food from dolmio, with some tomatoes and a little extra cheese, and did an A-B test.
So. Huel (complete food) according to website is £2.66 per serving.
My partners was the base dolmio (think of packet instant Mac) £1.95 additional packet sauce 25p, and a handful of fresh tomatoes, about 50p. The difference is pennies. Yet my partners was yummy in comparison.
Finally, having read a lot of the comments in this forum, version 1 too claggy and strong tasting, version 2 too thin and bland, then perhaps some tweaks in the Huel kitchen and some taste tests wouldn’t go amiss.
Many Thanks.