Mac and Cheeze change

Feedback
101

Hey Ernie, sorry we missed your in-depth review, thanks for sharing. Part of the reason for the reformulation of Mac & Cheeze was to ensure it is ready in 5 minutes.

Maybe shake isn’t quite the right word, I prefer to suggest tipping the bag upside down a few times.

Ah I’m sorry you don’t like the new version. I know it’s not ideal but have you tried a couple of simple additions to spice it up a little?

It’s funny because a lot of people weren’t a fan of the amount of tomato pieces - everyone is different!

Thanks for providing your opinion, it’s why offering a range of flavours is so important.

We didn’t cheap out! As I’m doing now we listen to feedback and then act on it when we feel there is a need to. Mac & Cheeze wasn’t working for a lot of Hueligans and the number of complaints has gone down since reformulation.

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102

The number of complaints has gone down? I mean, this thread surely counts for something. The vast majority of people here have said the old version is better, I think this information should be included in your feedback.

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103

Absolutely your comments from the forum are included.

Remember 1000s of people buy a product, and the forum gives a very small snapshot, which is why we collect feedback across out social media platforms, emails, surveys and sensory testing too.

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104

I am genuinely surprised the new formula is preferred over the old Mac and Cheese, but, oh well, I must be in the minority then…

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105

That was kinda my point, you, we are not in the minority when you look at this thread. I would assume that the forum is representive of the customer base in general, but I understand that is an assumption.

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106

I would have thought the macaroni pasta is cheaper to produce than the sauce… but in any case, I tried the old one once and it was covered in sauce, just bought a new one and had basically nothing on it.

The macaroni itself seemed to be better tasting but seems like there is just A LOT less sauce and I don’t know why people prefer that, makes no sense to me

Maybe as someone else said - the shake instructions aren’t accurate and it needs to be turned upside down to get more powder, who knows

Do you have the numbers? Have more people purchased the new version? How many compliments of the reformulation have there been?

I appreciate the response, just feel like you guys need more sauce or something

107

It’s not, though. I just made a serving. This time, following the instructions to the letter. Two scoops, 200ml boiling water, stir, cover and stand for five minutes. Result: pasta is still very dry, crunchy and - in that state - inedible.

I’d be super-careful about doing that, btw. With this dish, once powder has got into the seal strips (which can happen very easily when taking scoops out), the seal stops working. I need to use a giant plastic clip to reseal the bag.

108

We can’t share exact numbers, but I can give it to you as qualitative data. We expect to see a complaint increase when we introduce a new product in the first few weeks, that didn’t happen with Mac & Cheeze, the complaint rate barely altered.

In March we saw a decrease in complaints, below that of the old formula, and we expect this trend to continue.

I get you, it’s about striking a balance. As you’ve seen with Mac & Cheeze and other flavours we won’t stand still so we will reformulate again if we feel it’s needed.

Well that sucks, I’m sorry. I’ve passed on the feedback to the Product Development team, they do read the forum and I’m sure they’ve been keeping an eye on this post.

Don’t worry! If you run a credit card along the seal that should sort it out.

109

Just another person here to say mac and cheese was my favourite. Admittedly there was a preparation strategy required and the sauce pasta ratio was all over the place… but this new one is so dry and tasteless. I will not buy another bag after regularly buying the old one.

110

Set up a forum account today in order to say – briefly and politely – that I think (1) the flavour of the old Mac’ ‘n’ Cheeze was better; and (2) the sauce balance for the new one has perhaps gone a little far the other way, in that to get it saucy enough it’s necessary to add liquid to the point that it seems overdiluted in flavour terms. I will be interested to taste the new Chick’n and Mushroom, because this used to be second to the Mac’ for me. Perhaps it will overtake, so to speak. Thank you :slight_smile:

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111

This comment sums up very fairly and in detail how I feel about the new version. A bit disappointing, but I’m sure Huel wouldn’t have made the changes without a grounding in research about what buyers think.

112

Me too, but it’s not all bad. The pasta is definitely better, yet it needs more sauce and more cheesy flavour. I do add a bit less water than I used to nd that has helped.

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113

Just made an account to say that I’ve only just tried the new version and it’s definitely very bland now, and not very creamy. It does cook faster but I have to say I preferred the larger pasta pieces even if it meant waiting ten minutes for it to cook through. Due to the change I will be cancelling my subscription as the Mac and cheese was my reason for subscribing.

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114

After several meals of M&C and spaghetti carbonara I’m definitely dropping the former. Carbonara has a much nicer flavour whilst the mac is definitely bland in comparison on top of really missing the cheese flavour you’d expect

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115

I used to really like the original M&C. Then the new formula arrived and this soon became a firm favourite. I have recently been given a pack of original formula M&C by my son, I tried it today and really can’t see why I liked it?

So contrary to many on here, I prefer the new formula over the original formula, by quite a big margin.

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116

I know this is an old reply, but can I ask a question here?

One of the BIGGEST issues, imo, was the instructions that are on the back with how to mix and times are absolutely nothing like what it takes to make the original Mac & cheese really, really good.

Out of all the flavours, this in particular needs significantly more water and easily 12-15 minutes to be really, really delicious.

How sure are you that the flavour itself was somehow a “fail” and it wasn’t just down to you guys trying to keep this flavour within the “ready in 5 minutes” marketing tag you use?

The biggest complaints I’ve ever seen about it on Reddit are too crunchy and/or too thick - both of these are just issues with how much water to add & time to steep.

I’m just curious as I’m one for whom the original was my “special treat” meal as it felt utterly sinful having so much cheesy sauce in a bowl, and I LIKED the fact it needed more water as it just meant that visually it looked like I had more food.

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117

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.

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118

Not necessarily. H&S Huel can cost just £2.06 per serving. Might affect your comparison?

119

Thanks for the reply. The difference is still really small in monetary terms I feel, but tried to find something of a similar cost and similar enough as a meal to be able to take a quick step back and have a look. As it happens, my partner and I had separately planned what we were going to eat tonight, which was opportune to to an AB test for fun.

I am sure that the experts at Huel have ensured that the actual list of vitamins/nutrients are considerably better than cheap alternatives, and typically, quality costs more.

I think if people feed back into forums like this, it can only help Huel (or any other type of manufacturer) to see/hear what people think about their products and consider improvements.

120

One other question about your DIY Mac ‘n’ Cheez recipe… was it vegan? If so, what ‘cheese’ did you use?