Tired of people thinking Huel is like slimfast or a protein shake LOL!

Guys, I think you need to address this in your marketting.
Absolutely EVERYONE that I mention Huel to is under the impression it’s either a Protein Shake or some sort of Slimfast Powder. It’s pretty infuriating having to correct people continuously.
I honestly feel like you’re losing out on a lot of customers because they think it’s some stupid dieting powder or a “protein shake for body builders”.

3 Likes

Most people I know don’t know that Huel exists. And if they do they know that it is not a weight loss or fitness product. Nevertheless many are prejudiced - because they think it is not “normal” food. Because it is new, because they don’t know it. This is a natural reaction among people. And if someone does not want to use a product he doesn’t have to. That’s the principle according to which our economic system works. More customers do not even necessarily mean that prices will get cheaper.

If you ask me I don’t care who or how many people want to consume Huel. It’s their choice.

1 Like

they make it pretty clear in their marketing what it is - not sure how much clearer it could be to be honest. If there is one thing marketing cannot do effectively, it’s factor in stupid. If people dont take the time to find out what it is and instead just make baseless assumptions on it - then no amount of marketing will change that :slight_smile:

2 Likes

We really do our best and aim to be as clear as possible when we market Huel. Complete foods are still so unknown to most people in the world so while it is hard, we think we do a pretty good job at explaining what it is.

For example, we’ve opted to make The nutritionally complete meal. the most prominent text on our home page as shown below.

We’re constantly thinking of new ways to market, so who knows what’s on the horizon!

2 Likes

The problem is that many Huel users use Huel as a weight loss tool and then mention how it helped with their lifestyle change, post before and after photos of weight loss and stuff like that. Not surprising it gets thought of as such a thing when that is only one aspect of what it really is.

1 Like

Why not use a fat guy powered by Huel?

“He gained 65 kg of pure fat in 6 months x just using Huel!!!”

3 Likes

I’ll give it a go. Not much else to do in our Tier 4 covid environment.

I know this is a bit of a joke, but I would honestly like to see someone try to become clearly overweight or obese by eating only Huel. Yes, it is calories in, calories out as a principle, so the persons weight should increase. Yet somehow it feels that Huel is so filling that it would prevent overeating that much, and the low sugar, low saturated fat, zero cholesterol, high protein, high fibre, and so on should have some effect on the nature of the weight gain.

I’ve never seen someone eating healthy become fat.

2 Likes

The easiest way to make these people to understand it tell them is space food or food from the future :rofl:

1 Like

The fewer people buy it the less of a business it is . Of course it in all our interests to keep the supply available an viable

Interesting. Ultimately though it would depend on how the body metabolizes the clearly excess calories over time

Was thinking 'bout this. If supermarket food became a precious resource in Tier 4 and brexit logistics issues before the deal

The problem is that too many people use it for weight loss. Those who just want to get a convenient meal replacement usually don’t talk that much, but those who do everything to loose weight usually talk about their “successes” the loudest - and who thereby get the most attention.

I am not sure whether complete foods are really that good for weight loss, though. Everybody I know who used it for that purpose may have lost weight in the beginning, but all of them gained at least as many kilogramms as they initially had lost in the longer run.

This prooves that Huel is not a weight-loss, but a high-convenience product.

Most people out it back on because they don’t continue with a new way of living. The reason they need to lose weight in the first place is due to excessive calorie consumption.

You can lose weight on pretty much any food.

Complete foods are good because they give you a more accurate and easy way of tracking your calorie consumption. If I wanted to limit my calories to say 1600 a day I’d know that 4 100g meals of huel powder would be about right. I’ve no idea what a jacket potato with beans, a tofu stir-fry and a mixed salad with nuts and olives would come in any or what size it should be. That’s why many people are overweight.

3 Likes

@mbs, I feel like I can stick my oar in here, as I’ve experienced both sides of this - and have been using Huel since 2017.

From the weight loss perspective Huel is a super useful tool as it’s really easy to know exactly how many calories you’re getting, plus it’s tasty, and super filling (volume eating is another useful tool, and it’s great that Huel checks those boxes too). @hunzas is definitely on the money though, you have to continue on the same path or you pile those pounds back on. It’s possible to gain/lose weight by eating anything - Huel just happens to be something that people like because it’s great (that is why we’re all here, right?).

For the long term thing, Huel is way healthier than anything I would gravitate towards normally (shoutout to the pan au raisin in the Tesco’s bakery isle), I adore the convenience [read: feeling like a spaceman], and it fits well within my lifestyle - this is the main selling point. Huel’s social media has, for the most part, always advocated it this way.

I’ve seen my fair share of people talking about Huel & weightloss, and it seems to be mainly limited to people chatting in the forum - again, what it’s there for right? - or the odd instagram post (for which I’m guilty). I wouldn’t say it’s way too many, and yes we could use a few megathreads/sticky posts, but overall it seems manageable. People have different wants/needs out of Huel, after all, it’s an excellent product, and it’s not limited to just one thing.

TL;DR: I lost 40kg using Huel, and am keeping it off by maintaining my lifestyle. Huel plays a massive role in both of those things, and I don’t think we should gatekeep based on how people use Huel.

5 Likes

Spot on. After all Huel is just food. Eat too much…add weight Eat too little…lose weight.

I find that eating Huel (as it is good nutrition and not empty calories) means that I find it hard to overeat. On the occasions I am 100% Huel I tend to lose weight as I can’t consume 2500kc worth in a day as it’s too filling. More like 1600. So again that makes it good choice for weight loss.

Hunger is the biggest demotivator in weight loss.

2 Likes

Yep, exactly this!

2 Likes

I got the feeling that no one who loves a variety of foods is disciplined enough to stay on a Huel-only or Huel-mostly path. The most frequent problem is people having all kinds of other things parallel to their liquid foods without properly keeping track - somehow they seem to crave for specific things, regardless of hunger.

It’s easier if you’re afraid of swallowing solids after some very unpleasant “aspiration”. Don’t know how frequent this is among the general population, though. Maybe not very frequent - and my impression is that most people struggle with some form of cravings. Or get tired of things after some time.

That applies to people I know, though. Maybe it’s different in other countries or other environments.

I think for most people that is true. Much as I like Huel and consume it pretty much every day there is no way I could just live off it and nothing else. I like crisps. Now if Huel made 100% nutritionally complete Monster Munch* type snacks I may be persuaded. Pass it on to the boffins @Tim_Huel

*Monster Munch aren’t vegan, but Aldi and Asda manufacture own brand versions that are, but just using it for reference.

I would also add here that I think people who are challenging themselves to lose weight are perhaps often more vocal on social media/forums, so you’ll likely see this more than the people who are having Huel for lunch because it’s convenient. From reading all the posts here about weight loss many people share their journeys to hold themselves accountable which will help them maintain and reach their goals. This is a useful tool so again you’ll see more of these posts.

In regards to talking to your friends and having to explain it. I think people see Huel as a powder that you add to water in a bottle that looks like a protein shaker, therefore it’s a protein shake, and if it isn’t a protein shake then the only other product they know mixed this way is a weight-loss meal replacement thing. It’s less about our marketing I would say and just what the majority of people understand and if they spent a few minutes, but people don’t have a few minutes.

Another thing is that when it comes to paid advertising (like Facebook adverts for example), we can’t say everything. We have limited text space on the advert and limited attention span of those scrolling down their feed (and scrolling fast!). So we can’t say everything, which means some adverts might be more fitness related, or more healthy eating related, or cost related, or more weight loss related, etc. etc. Some ads will try and do it all too but if someone has only seen one or 2 adverts and only took away a message about Huel helping some people manage their weight, that is what they learn.

Tricky for sure.

1 Like