Getting the Most Food for Your Money

Money, dollar, dough, cash, simoleons whether you love it or hate it, money plays a role in all our lives and we want to be getting the best value for whatever we buy, but how do you do that? Don’t worry, we’ve racked our brains, then asked around the office, and here we are, a fully-fledged article to help you get the most out of your money.

Processed food

To get the best value you need to think about nutrition as well as price. Junk food can be really cheap, but beyond calories, these foods don’t contain many other nutrients. However, processing doesn’t automatically mean bad. In fact, the processing of food has reduced the price of many foods while maintaining their nutritional value and increasing their shelf-life and convenience.

For example, frozen and tinned fruits are often cheaper than their unprocessed counterparts and they have a much longer shelf life too! Tinned lentils, chickpeas and beans can be cooked and ready to eat in a few minutes while bought raw they can take up to an hour to fully cook. So, this convenience allows you to take advantage of cheap, highly nutritious plant-based foods if you don’t have a lot of time to cook.

Huel Powders are another great example. Processing has helped create a nutritionally complete food that is ready in less than a minute without the need for any cooking equipment. A 400kcal Huel meal costs 1,82 € based on the starter pack.

Wonky food

Food sold in supermarkets has to meet certain specifications, many of which are crucial. However, some of these specifications can also include appearance for instance an even colour, shape, or minimum/maximum size because a large part of our buying habits is impacted by sight. If a food doesn’t meet these specifications it often goes to waste as it can’t be sold.

In the last few years, these unnecessary specifications have come under increasing scrutiny. You have probably seen wonky fruit and vegetables when you shop. These are foods which don’t meet standard appearance specifications but are perfectly safe to eat and taste the same as foods which do meet these specifications. Anyway, once chopped and cooked it really doesn’t matter what the fruit or vegetable looks like. The great thing about foods outside of appearance specifications, apart from reducing food waste, is the price.

Shopping organic

Organic foods can have some benefits such as better animal welfare and soil management^[1,2]. However, organic doesn’t mean healthier. Conventional foods contain just as much of the essential nutrients the body needs as organic foods^[3,4]. As organic foods can cost 40% more than their conventional counterparts^[5], don’t feel like you need to be pressured into buying organic foods especially if you can’t afford it. Huel products are not organic because the increase in price moves us away from a key part of our mission; providing affordable food.

Bulk buying

Buying foods in bulk can be a great way to reduce the cost of each meal. It’s also one of the main reasons why large food companies can offer foods at a lower price than smaller ones. Although there are downsides to bulk buying. The initial cost can be too high for some people and there are issues with storage and a potential increase in food waste especially by being tempted by offers such as buy one get one free. Therefore, it’s important to balance these factors and not be drawn into impulse buying due to bulk offers.

If bulk buying is appealing to you Huel products are cheaper per meal the more you buy in one purchase. The core Huel Powder costs as little as 1,30 € due to discounts through bulk buying.

Food waste

Food waste is often forgotten about but the world wastes nearly a third of all food produced^[6]. In developed countries around 50% of food waste occurs at the consumer level, in other words, you^[6]. That means when you put food in the bin you’re also putting the money you spent on that food in the bin too. So, reducing food waste is a win-win. Some of the simplest ways to reducing food waste include being aware of which foods in your home are closest to the end of their shelf-life and freezing extra meals.

Huel results in very little food waste from production to being in your home. All Huel products have a long shelf-life of 6-12 months and with the Powders you can scoop out as much as you need which makes it super easy to reduce your food waste.

Watching how much you spend doesn’t have to be a negative thing. By spending your money more carefully, the environment can benefit, as well as your bank balance. If Huel fits the bill then you can check out our Huel products.

References

1. Boone L, et al. Environmental sustainability of conventional and organic farming: Accounting for ecosystem services in life cycle assessment. The Science of the total environment. 2019; 695:133841.
2. Niggli U. Sustainability of organic food production: challenges and innovations. The Proceedings of the Nutrition Society. 2015; 74(1):83-8.
3. Forman J, et al. Organic foods: health and environmental advantages and disadvantages. Pediatrics. 2012; 130(5):e1406-15.
4. Smith-Spangler C, et al. Are organic foods safer or healthier than conventional alternatives?: a systematic review. Ann Intern Med. 2012; 157(5):348-66.
5. Lazaroiu G, et al. Trust Management in Organic Agriculture: Sustainable Consumption Behavior, Environmentally Conscious Purchase Intention, and Healthy Food Choices. Front Public Health. 2019; 7:340-.
6. Flanagan K, et al. Reducing Food Loss and Waste. World Resources Institute. 2019.