I’ve consumed Huel for many years, since close to the beginning. v2.3 was absolute perfection and I feel like things have gone downhill since. It seems more aligned with pseudoscience and being “organic” rather than being the best nutritional food from a scientific perspective. Who cares about the origin of every vitamin as long as it’s effective and safe – this sentiment was echo’d by Huel staff in the years gone but now I’m sure will be argued the opposite way for whatever reason. I even see the listing for the powder now recommends using Greens alongside it, but I remember very well Dan commenting on the forum that if you consume the powder the Greens won’t add anything and would be redundant.
I still have 30-40 bags of v2.3, yes it’s very out of date by a number of years but still tastes good! Maybe I’m just being an old fart (although am only 30 if that’s still young?). I just feel like James C and Julian had the formula perfected from a scientific and nutritional perspective but the company has moved into a generation of influencers and advertising rather than what is best for us. I recognise the company as a whole is much bigger now but it irritates me when I see someone promoting Huel on Tiktok who has no idea about the product and their account is full of promoting shit products (not that I would class Huel as that in any way, but some people will promote anything, and it places it in that category if you let them promote it for a fee). Even my order today came with some referral cards with a picture of “hardest geezer”, whoever that is, and does anyone care? Cheapens the brand immensely in my opinion.
I remember clearly talking with James C via email about a small issue I had and he replied right away and gave a lot of very helpful advice, everything felt a lot more personal. We felt a part of the Huel journey but not so much now, everything feels profit driven and this feeling wasn’t there a few years ago. It’s good to see people like hunzas still here (though far less offensive now, what happened bro) and coup but the forum feels much more dead now.
Maybe it’s just a yearning for nostalgia, who knows, but I do miss the old days, and it doesn’t seem any other meal replacement company is in the direction of legacy Huel. Such a shame. I miss how the forum used to be much more active, where the top dogs would reply to posts made by lowly consumers, addressing our concerns and sometimes making changes based on them. Nowadays it feels like a faceless corporation, just trying to maximise profits, but I do also understand this is the purpose of a company. I even preferred the old website despite it’s flaws.
The aim of my post isn’t to bash Huel at all, I still consume it every day (currently makes up all of my intake!), but I still don’t like the direction it’s taken. I hope nobody takes offence to my post.
Thank you for taking the time to share how you feel. It’s never easy to hear, but it reminds us just how far we’ve come since those very first days. Looking back, it’s incredible to think that what started as a simple idea has now reached its 10th year. Along the way, we’ve celebrated big wins, stumbled at times, and, most importantly, learned from every step of the journey.
Through all the change, one thing has never wavered: our commitment to being the leaders in providing nutritionally complete products, always rooted in science. That passion is what carried us through the early days, and it’s the same passion that drives us today.
Huel Daily Greens are meant to boost your nutrition intake to ensure you get complete nutrition every day. If you have 2 or more servings of other Huel products daily in addition to other foods, you’re likely already hitting your nutrient needs, though it depends on the rest of your diet.
For those who have 1 Huel serving a day or only occasionally, Daily Greens can be a great added boost to cover all your nutrient essentials, with potential added benefits from ingredients like adaptogens and superfruits, too.
I hope so, as I turned 30 in April
I hear you, and I really appreciate you sharing this. You’re right, James and Julian set an incredible standard from the start, and everything we’ve done since has been built on that same scientific and nutritional foundation. That hasn’t changed, and it never will. Science is always at the heart of what we do.
I also get where you’re coming from with how things look now. When I first joined, Huel was on just Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. We weren’t in retail; we were still finding our feet globally, and very few people had even heard of us. To grow, we’ve had to adapt and show up where people spend their time, whether that’s TikTok, YouTube, podcasts, or working with influencers.
I completely understand that sometimes it doesn’t feel right seeing Huel promoted by people who don’t always represent what makes this community so special. That’s why feedback like yours matters; it keeps us grounded and reminds us that the voices and partnerships we choose should reflect the same passion and care that built Huel in the first place. But one thing remains, no matter who promotes our product, whether you’re a brand new mum or you’ve just run the length of Australia, Huel is for everyone.
I get what you’re saying, and it’s a fair point. Russ Cook, the “Hardest Geezer” is the guy who ran the entire length of Africa, and we were proud to help fuel that journey. But he’s just one of many people we’ve supported over the years, from Matt Pritchard smashing a half-Ironman record to Rupert Jones-Warner summiting Everest. These aren’t just marketing stunts, they’re real people pushing their limits and choosing Huel to help them get there.
The referral cards and stories aren’t meant to cheapen what Huel stands for, but to show what’s possible when people use our products. That’s why we even created the Limit Seeker Fund something we’d never have dreamed of 10 years ago, to help people turn the “impossible” into reality.
James C was brilliant at giving that personal touch, and those early exchanges felt like being part of something small and special. That spirit is still what we’re aiming for, even if it doesn’t always come across as clearly now that we’ve grown.
This year, we’ve gone through some changes internally, bringing the CX social team into Marketing to form the new Brand and Community team. The whole point of that was to get closer to the community again, to make things feel more like they used to. It’s probably why you’re seeing me here more, and why you’ll see me stepping in to chat (or even give the odd telling-off, looking at you @hunzas).
But I want to be clear, this isn’t just “part of the job” for me. I genuinely love being here, I love this community, and I love what Huel stands for. Alongside Tim (who should have his forum access back soon), we’re working hard to make the forum, Reddit, and all our community spaces feel more alive again, with more openness, more conversations, and more value for everyone who’s been part of the journey.
We even ran a survey recently when we reintroduced the new team, because for us, it’s not about ticking a box, it’s about rebuilding those connections that made Huel so special in the first place. You can find that post here.
I think some of us feel that same sense of nostalgia for the “old days.” Back when the forum was buzzing, the team was smaller, and James and Julian were replying directly to threads; it felt like a tight-knit club we were all part of. It’s natural to miss that.
That said, I want to reassure you that James and Julian are still right at the heart of things. James recently stepped back from the day-to-day office role to be our Nutrition Advisor, and Julian, well, I literally sit back-to-back with him in the office! As Huel has grown, their responsibilities have shifted, but they’re still in the thick of every detail, even down to something as small as a flavour tweak. It may feel more “corporate” from the outside, but behind the scenes, they’re still driving Huel with the same passion and attention as day one.
The forum and community spaces may look different now, but the goal hasn’t changed: to keep listening, learning, and improving together. Nostalgia for how it used to be is valid, but I hope you know the same spirit is still alive and well, even if it sometimes takes a different shape.
You’ve not caused any offence at all. I appreciate you taking the time to post this and tell us how you are feeling. I feel you were owed a response back, but I want you to leave feeling that every point has been read and we will continue to do better…just don’t leave 11 months until you next post?
I don’t think I read your initial post properly even though I did comment, but appreciate the shout out.
I wasn’t knowingly deliberately offensive but do have some fruity language which I have tempered a bit. I did tend to call out fackwits though, and there have been a few..
I am still an avid consumer of Huel products..like meals twice a day generally, with a few snacks here and there (bars, vitamin drinks)…and I do drink the greens regularly too.
Like you I’m turned off my influencers and celebrity endorsements as for many of them it’s a passing phase…and they generally let you down…the amount of vegan influencers I’ve seen that have changed paths is ridiculous, but I never follow any of them.
I also liked it when people like James Collier were more active here, but I guess he has plenty other stuff going on. I still haven’t read his book although I did get a copy when it was released.
One thing that is good is that Huel products are now so widely available..I mean it’s cool to be part of what seems like a niche club but at the same time, many people have such shocking dietary habits, that to see someone reach for a Huel in a Tesco is better than seeing them reach for something less healthy.
And it is a convenience food, you can pick it up in three different stores within half a mile of where I’m sitting, so they must be doing something right.
Agree with everything you said. I’ve been here since the beginning and have been around for all the changes. I can say that I’m not happy with many of them but I also understand that this is a business with shareholders that they need to answer to.
The being said, seeing Huel go mainstream is definitely a net positive.
Interesting to read a veteran hueler’s views. It does all seem familiar - a company becomes successful, gets bigger, then more impersonal,etc. Apple are a prominent case in point. They tried to drag the “computer for the rest of us” idea along with the their success and managed it for quite a long time.
Of course that’s going to happen. When a company has.a handful of customers they know everyone; when they have a few hundred they can maintain a personal experience; when they have a few thousand this starts to become unmanageable. And when they have millions worldwide what do you really expect? James Collier was always interacting but of course he can’t do that now. That how business works. They don’t want to maintain a customer base of 50 people.
I made some similar points to the op a while ago. When I first started using huel it was very different in attitude. I don’t think it’s all just a consequence of growing. I think it’s a consequence of pursuing growth pretty hard. And I think if you do that rather than allow a more organic process you get into the territory of subtly changing priorities. It is such an old story. It’s so easy to get just a little greedy…
What brought me to huel were statements/ideas like “the future of food”. “A low environmental impact way of producing good food for the modern world”. To me that does not include ridiculous vitamin drinks and jumping on the “greens” bandwagon that every serious researcher agrees are a gimmick. These are, in my opinion, nothing more than “brand leverage” products with no real value. And making bars packed full of sugar alcohols…(totally inedible to me and many others) when previous version studiously avoided sweeteners other than rice syrup and grape syrup (if I remember correctly)
There have been some good products added too - rtd, black edition but overall my experience has been of loss of products I liked and slowly decreasing trust.
Of course, we want you to enjoy Huel and feel that we’re not all about success and growth but the reality is that there has to be an element of growth in order to be successful and remain profitable. That said, we completely understand what you’re saying about how that growth can sometimes feel like a shift in priorities.
We know some of our long-time customers miss certain the early “feel” of Huel, and we genuinely appreciate you sharing that perspective. As we’ve expanded, we’ve worked hard to strike the right balance between staying true to our mission, providing nutritionally complete, sustainable food, and exploring ways to innovate and make Huel more accessible for more people.
We’re still very focused on keeping our environmental impact minimal and ensuring that every new product we release meets our high standards for nutrition. Your feedback on things like sweeteners and product ranges is really valuable, and it helps us reflect on how we can keep improving while staying true to our original goals.
I’d be interested to know if you feel the ‘RTD Lite’ product meets this goal?
I remember when RTD was launched. Back then, Huel was pushing the environmental side and “changing customer attitudes towards food” acknowledging “yes, it’s another plastic bottle” but this is offset against the packaging waste from the products they were hoping it replaced (packaged sandwiches, crisps, McDonalds etc) whilst providing a healthier 400kcal meal.
RTD Lite however, appears to be a 500ml plastic bottle largely made up of water, with some protein and nutrients added. A product created it seems to cater for people who don’t want to put in the effort to make a meal of the calorie level of their needs from either of the powder product ranges, despite that being one of the very purposes of the powder ranges. You can make the same case for RTD from a purely environmental perspective, but at least with RTD it offers a full meal and an experience, the texture, which you cannot replicate with the powder and water alone. RTD Lite lacks this thick texture and doesn’t contain a full meal by your own definition of 400kcal, so it seems to exist purely for the basis of convivence.
I regularly used to make Huel on-the-go. All it takes is a reusable plastic container with the desired amount of powder, a shaker and access to a tap or water already in a bottle or at worst, a new bottle of water. RTD Lite seems in principle the same as a bottle of ready-mixed screen wash for your car. An end product which is very easy and much cheaper to make yourself with a little effort or planning but is created and sold to cater for the convivence market at the expense of cost and of course, the environment. The opposite to “changing peoples attitudes towards food”.
Yeah, I do think Huel Lite meets the goal we had in mind.
When we launched Ready-to-drink about six years ago, the whole point was to make Huel more convenient, basically the same nutrition as the powder but in a format you could grab and go, or pick up in a shop. That thinking hasn’t changed much with Lite.
A lot of people told us they liked RTD but found it a bit too heavy or high in calories for certain moments. That’s where Lite came from it’s not trying to replace the full meal version, just give people a lighter option for when they want something smaller, like a mid-afternoon boost. You can get that with the powder too, but realistically, most people aren’t bringing powder and a shaker into the office for a quick snack.
And let’s be honest when RTD first launched, no one was drinking half a bottle and saving the rest for later. Lite fills that gap; it’s just a smaller, easier way to get some nutrition when you don’t need a full meal.
On the packaging side, yeah, it’s still a plastic bottle we’re not pretending otherwise. But the idea’s the same as it’s always been: if someone grabs a Lite instead of a less nutritious snack or bottled drink, that’s still a better choice overall.
So in that sense, yeah, it still fits what we’ve always tried to do. It’s just another way to make good nutrition easier and more flexible for different people and situations. It’s only 2-3 weeks old so not much data to go on but as it stands things look good!
