Okay, so I’ve been trying to find the best way to handle my meal prepping and food situation. I’ve tried cooking, eating out, and now I’ve moved on to even trying outside meal prep.
The first company I’ve tried meal prep from was Trifecta Nutrition. Here are my thoughts so far.
First and foremost, we have to understand that these meals are marketed as “eat how you train.” Their objective is to get you healthy and lean, or muscular, etc. It’s health food, so that being said, some sacrifices must be made in terms of flavor profile and so on. I understand that.
The food comes really well vacuum sealed and appears to last about 10 days or so without freezing. If you freeze it, it could last weeks or even months. They send it with those little packets that keep the food cold and it is sealed pretty well. Reheating was super easy, 2 to 3 minutes, and then it’s a matter of eating up. You can heat it right in the original container and they even said I could leave the label on there as it sticks pretty well.
All a la carte proteins come in 4oz portions in the container size you order. Everything is lightly seasoned with no added oils or butters, so you can add your own seasoning/sauces. All proteins and vegetables are baked while the carbs are steamed.It is clean food, and if you want extra flavor, they give you the option to add rather than put it in by default. This makes a lot of sense to me and as such I’ve decided to go for another round. I put in my order today for next week. If necessary, I’ll provide further updates. Again, I must reiterate that their customer service is second to none. Whoever runs that aspect of the business has done a great job with the team.
UPDATE
So as of yesterday, July 24th, 2019, I have cancelled my subscription with Trifecta.
First thing that happened was the food arrived a day late. I understand that things happen and delays can be expected, but when it comes to a perishable item like food during a heatwave week, that is not ideal. I’m not sure what caused the delay, but it was inconvenient. I spoke to their support and didn’t really feel that they fully appreciated how challenging the heatwave made this situation.
I received the meat on a Saturday and was told that if it was warm or bad, they would just ship me a new batch that week. I was frustrated because I plan my training and eating down to the day. This threw me off, but it wasn’t enough to cause me to leave. The food didn’t feel hot, but it wasn’t cold either, so I took a chance with it.
Over the last few days, I’ve been eating the food, and the chicken seemed to upset my stomach quite a bit. I reached out to the staff and told them. I explained that I couldn’t eat the chicken since it was causing discomfort. The response I received felt less attentive than before and didn’t fully reflect an understanding of my situation. This was different from my earlier customer service experience.
My main goal was to stop the next shipment of chicken from coming. I called what I believe was early enough to intercept the shipment, but according to the representative, it was too late. I expressed that the problems it caused me would prevent me from eating the chicken again, and that I didn’t want it. The answer was still that it was too late to stop it. I understand there are moving parts in the process, but the attitude toward my concerns didn’t quite meet my expectations.
Naturally, I became frustrated. Instead of finding a resolution to satisfy both sides, the message felt like, “It’s too late to do anything, deal with it.” This wasn’t acceptable, so I said, “Okay, I’d like to cancel my service please.” I also requested that they stop the chicken shipment since it made me sick and I didn’t want to waste money discarding it.
In the end, we cancelled my account. I got a full refund for the meat that arrived late during the heatwave, and I also received a refund for the chicken portion of the last order that will arrive tomorrow. It’s important to note that I was not trying to take advantage of them or harm their business, and I didn’t want to cancel the service in the first place. I just wanted my concerns addressed.
From a business perspective, wouldn’t it have been better to replace the chicken with some beef or something else, cancel the shipment, or handle it differently? They had said before that they could send replacement food if the heatwave batch was bad, so I knew some flexibility was possible. Instead, the experience led to a lost potential long-time customer. I do eat a lot every day, so providing food for someone like me would be good business! I just wanted some appreciation for the fact that the chicken caused issues.
Their customer service started very well, but apparently, it changed over time. Hopefully, this is something the team can learn from. I’m available if they want to discuss or follow up further.
Just a life long New Yorker sharing the journey through my lens.
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