For a product composed mostly of ground oats it’s surprising to see a price per kg similar to Irish beef. Is there any particularly expensive ingredient driving its price?
Don’t get me wrong - it can be sold at whatever price the market will bear, and it would be great if Julian and James make millions out of it. I’m just curious if it really is expensive to manufacture or if it’s just a high-margin product.
Well, when I tried making my own meal drink on the DIY Soylent website a while back, the total cost of all the ingredients came to over £10 per day. But then i was using various green powders to up the nutrient levels, plus some supplements.
The thing is, there is more to Huel than just oats, and eating healthily can get expensive. A few years ago I was into making fruit & veg smoothies, and I could easily spend £15 on a day’s worth of fruit and veg, sometimes more.
It’s worth keeping in mind that Huel combines healthy food with convenience. So you’ve got something that’s quicker to prepare than porridge, as easy to consume as a bottle of water, and full of nutrients.
That being said, I’ll be interested to see if the price comes down a little once the business really gets off the ground…
There are a range of ingredients, oats proportionally, are one of the cheapest. Flax, MCT, sunflower powder aren’t so cheap. The there’s the protein powders and vit/min blend.
Also, don’t forget the delivery costs.
Compare this to food. You possibly could have an equally nutritious diet on £45 per week, but you’d have to shop around. Plus what about other costs: petrol, parking, electricity, gas?
Is Huel expensive?
Huel is a low margin product. This is why we sell exclusively online, the margin that retailers want simply isn’t there.
Once we increase volume to significant levels will we be able to negotiate volume discounts which will enable us to lower the cost. We are close to that but not there yet.
Starting and running a food business such as Huel is expensive, we are certainly not making millions in fact we have yet to recoup our investment.
@Julian Hang in there. If the success of Soylent in the USA is anything to go by, this is going to really take off before too long. I think you started up at exactly the right time. Soylent was already popular, but not shipping to the UK. If you can get most British people who are interested in Soylent to buy Huel before Soylent gets round to shipping here, you’ll be laughing.
Not that I’m expert in any of this by any means. Just my thoughts on my observations.
I’m not disputing the value of Huel - I get my money’s worth on just the time it saves me. It’s just a generic question about what drives its cost. I know oats are plentiful and cheap, but have no idea about how expensive or difficult to source e.g. flaxseed is.
No problem. Any other questions, just ask 
I have already given 2 bags to friends at work to try and 2 other friends are now using so hopefully if this trend keeps going there will be a lot of users by the end of next year
As Del Boy would say;-
This time next year we’ll be millionaires! 
Keep it up Julian! I love your product and even though sometimes I can’t afford it, and sometimes I use it all before the end of the month. It makes me smile knowing I’m eating (or drinking) something actually good for me and I didn’t have to spend half an hour preparing it.
Unless I’ve got my maths wrong for a couple to both go 100% huel for 1 month eating 2k calories a day is about £400.
By shopping at aldis and eating a diet of eggs vegetables fruit etc this would cost about £200 a month.
Huel wins on time saving and general ease of use.
Yes, you’ve definitely got your maths wrong. A subscription of 8 bags of Huel, which would last you 4 weeks at 2,000 cals per day, costs £148.50. There are an average of 4.34524 weeks per month, so that means Huel costs £161.32 per month for a 2,000 cal diet.