So how does the Plated experience compare to HelloFresh?

• INGREDIENTS:  Both services provided top quality ingredients.  No complaints.  Plated gave me small disks of ginger, while HelloFresh sends me a tiny thumb.  I like the thumb because removing ginger peel with a spoon is a snap. Trimming the peel from the discs wasn’t as easy. Plated’s vinegars came in what looked like mini hotel shampoo bottles, with a label and the Plated logo.  HelloFresh usually sends me a tiny bottle with the manufacturer’s label, which I find enchanting.  It’s like eating dollhouse food.  But the quality, the most important distinction, is identical.
• PACKAGING:  Both services have good packaging.  Everything arrived cold.  I do have one equal complaint of both services — no information on how to recycle the tremendous amount of packaging.  I’m never sure what to do with the ice packs!  Is it safe to pour the liquid down the sink?
• INSTRUCTIONS:  Let me reveal bias:  I’m an instructional designer, so I write and review instructions on a regular basis.  I’m also a visual designer, so the visual appearance of the recipes is also very important.  To be honest, I’m not thrilled with either company’s instructions.  They both value the design of the recipe cards a little too much.  They’re beautiful, I’ll admit — thick cardstock, nice photos, clean design.  But they’re sacrificing content.  I’d appreciate more detailed instructions cooking techniques.  I’ve found it’s very helpful to visit YouTube and search for how to prepare specific ingredients found in each meal before cooking.  I wish the boxers included all these useful tips, so I wouldn’t have to spend time searching for and watching videos.  The recipe formatting could be much better.  Both boxers also group several steps into one tight paragraph underneath a picture, in only a few square inches of space.  The tiny font size and dense text makes it easy to overlook steps, or even fail to add ingredients as I did this evening.  HelloFresh has a slight edge here; they bold the ingredients, so I can skim each step to make sure nothing is left out.  I’ve fixed this problem with the Plated recipe cards using a highlighter.  (Grad school skills to the rescue!)
• EASE:  Both services have uncomplicated recipes, but I’d like to see more super-quick one-dish fifteen-to-twenty minute recipes.
• TASTE:  This is probably not the best area me to review, as I’m eating a ton of things I’ve never tried so I don’t have a baseline,  Maybe ALL Chinese broccoli is amazing, and I’m just discovering it.  Should that give Plated an edge?  I’m also an inept cook, and my lack of kitchen game could could be the reason a recipe flops instead of triumphs.  I feel each service has winner recipes I’ll cook again, so for now I’m declaring taste a tie.
• CUSTOMER SERVICE:  No problems with Plated so far.  One issue with HelloFresh, eventually settled after seven emails.  HelloFresh’s response times to individual emails could have been better, too.  On the plus side, when my plans changed unexpectedly, HelloFresh was able to send me a box even though the order deadline date had passed.  6 out of 10.
• MAGIC FAIRIES:  Neither company included magic fairies to clean my kitchen.  Darn.

It’s pretty much a toss-up.  I’ll re-evaluate in a few months.