When I tried Huel Bars for the first time, I didnt really like them (due to taste, texture,…). This changed a bit after I ate few of them, but I never really enjoyed eating them, they were just a healthy snack, something to fill my stomach before lunch. Then I have found a product from the competing brand, which costs 2.1€/400kcal and the flavour profile is just much better in my opinion - even my mouth starts watering when I open the packaging. With the price increase, Huel Bar costs 1.6€ more per 400kcal than the competing bar, so it is basically a no brainer for me.
I have to think about H&S. While it is a healthy instant hot meal, the price per 400kcal is comparable to the price of prepared meals you can order, receive in tupperware and store up to a week in the fridge. Maybe I will still order H&S for emergencies, but with the price increase it costs almost the same as prepared meals, so I will most definitively not eat it regularly.
I know that “convenience” is a point you are pushing heavily and when I was working in the office five days a week, Huel made sense and buying it when I did was affordable.
But, things have changed. I’m at home 3-4 days a week and batch cooking a simple stew or making a salad has become enjoyable.
Looks like my time with Huel will be sadly ending. I used to have oats blended with protein powder, banana and a teaspoon of peanut butter for breakfast/quick meals but when I tried Huel, I liked the convenience/quickness so I didn’t mind paying more to do this way. But a near 14% increase is too large for me to continue to justify the price just for convenience.
I’ll probably stock up at the beginning of December and then go back to my own blended shake. Especially now that I work remotely most of the week so I have the time to blend all the ingredients.
I understand the increase.
It’s not great as money is about to be squeezed (baby on the way) and it’s still not a bad price for what we get.
Thanks for being up front about the increase and giving us a chance to get an order in before the price goes up
A sad day for me, my next order will have to be my last. The previous pricing of Huel was already just outside my comfort zone, as I have huel for about 80% of my meals. I’ve done some maths with the new pricing and just can’t make it work for me.
I’m sure you’ve thought this through and I hope it works out for you.
I have reduced mobility, cooking is very time consuming for me, so I’ll be back in the very unlikely event of my financial situation drastically improving.
On one hand, 14% is a pretty large increase, but I bet that groceries have increased by that much in stores - I see my regular Danone Actimels going (in the last 2 months) from 449 Ft (local currency) 579 Ft (22%) and the brand of coconut milk I use from 599 Ft to 749 (20%).
For those who decide to give up on Huel - hasn’t your “cooking costs” increased too? I think the answer is that it still comes out cheaper, but interested to hear others.
Reading most of the comments I don’t think its the price increase thats the issue it’s the % of the increase itself. I’ll still continue with Huel because I see the benefits however, I will be buying less due to this increase because it’s now over my shopping budget allocation. I am sad by this especially the Hot and Savoury which I have been using for months now. I don’t think I’ll be buying the bars anymore now.
yeah I understand this increase too…it is a shame (just like any increase in price on anything you pay for on the regular) but it’s happening everywhere (especially here in the UK with brexit) and it will continue to do so for a while…across the board.
I’m more concerned about fuel/gas/electric bills and mortgage rates going up!..it’s everywhere
I’ll be interested to see a figure once the price increases come in to see sales numbers. With everyone feeling the pinch of life at the moment somethings going to give. January is going to be a depressing month!
Thing is Martyn, Huel was never cheap but I tolerated it because I really like Huel black. Now it’s £63 for 2 bags of black? Wow! Just cannot justify that cost. Beans on toast for lunch from now on
It is definitely true that other expenses have also increased, including normal food shopping, but not by this kind of margin. I saw the email subject and expected a few quid on top of my bill but certainly not tens of pounds extra per month.
Anyway, even though Huel currently makes up a large portion of my diet, with the way things are, the rest of my rising bills, I really have no choice but to scale back for now and reevaluate from there, I’ll definitely be completely dropping the bars as step one.
Everyones circumstances are different and I didn’t really think that Huel was very cheap to begin with. Sadly, this is past the point that I can justify that kind of expenditure going forwards.
Seeing all these comments, I’m not sure Huel expected this kind of uproar… but yeah, 14% is steep, last change back in 2019 December was like 10%. And that was the “we haven’t increased the price in 4.5 years” kind of communication. Now will it be like “we kept these prices for the previous 6 months, but couldn’t really hold up anymore”?
I’m glad to see so much pushback and hopefully enough people drop their orders to reverse this increase - huel is already one of the more expensive options and was the limit for me, this increase prices me out. We’re not all city office workers on 30k salaries. I’ve already cut back on the amount of other food I bought because I was paying for this. I have huel with UHT dairy milk because I can’t afford alternate milk. It’s a shame to hear you’re operating at a loss, but there are other ways to reduce operating costs than passing them onto consumers. How much do those Reddit ads cost? I’ve been seeing them for months, I’m sure every user has too by now.
Never call your products affordable - this is immensely subjective and at worst comes off as condescending. Convenience with meal prep isn’t a good argument either when making a sandwich, making a pot noodle, making some slimfast, eating an a-z vitamin tablet take the same amount of time to prep as huel and are much cheaper, not to mention all your competitors with similar products and cheaper prices.
Also on the subscriptions page - huel costs less than a sandwich? What are you paying for sandwiches lol? They cost no more than 25p each to make. Guess you’re talking about shop-bought sandwiches that I’ve never seen anyone buy and are always left at the end of the day with 50% off, but they still cost £1 so they just end up binned?
well, I have just ordered some more before the increase, but I’ll definitely be taking a look at the competition - didn’t dare to do so before. I’m willing to sacrifice 5% decrease in (nutritional) quality for -30% of price.
This is so disappointing. I’ll be starting a new job next month and my travel costs are going up (or moving closer to the new place). I’m moving to a less stressful area of nursing away from the wards as covid took it out of me, and as a result I’ll be losing my weekend/night shift bonuses too. Huel is a huge part of my diet and has been so good for me, but I’ll have to see what happens with my new job/travel costs/cost of moving, and budgeting for all the changes before I figure out what I’m doing. I hope I can keep using Huel the same, but it’s likely I’ll have to cut back a bit.
