Eating healthy can be a struggle, especially for those of us always on the go. Healthy, plant-inspired meals require frequent shopping and prep-work. Convenience options are limited and often disappointing in taste and quality. This is why we’d like to introduce you to Splendid Spoon and Daily Harvest – two wonderful plant-inspired meal delivery services.Â
Splendid Spoon and Daily Harvest are two delivery services that accommodate a busy lifestyle by helping to support your healthy eating goals. They each offer healthy, nutritious, and easy plant-based meals that also happen to taste really good.
Splendid Spoon was founded in 2013 with humble, local beginnings. They started out offering mostly delicious, wholesome soups. The soups were packed with nutritious and satisfying ingredients and were sold at a local grocer. After several attempts at increasing distribution to other retailers, Splendid Spoon took the leap into an online ordering platform, and this was the birth of Splendid Spoon as we know it today.
Splendid Spoon has now become one of the most popular vegan meal delivery services. They offer a selection of smoothies, soups, grain bowls, noodle bowls, and some extras to round off your delicious healthy lifestyle.
Daily Harvest entered the scene a couple of years after Splendid Spoon in 2015. Daily Harvest creates ready-to-eat meals that make it easy to get more fruits and veggies into your life. They entered the vegan meal-delivery service game with a strong commitment to sustainability and improving both the quality of food we eat and also the environment by supporting ethical and sustainable food practices.
Both companies offer great-tasting plant-based meals, but each still offers something different for their customers. Let’s take a look and compare Splendid Spoon and Daily Harvest head to head in each of the most important categories.
Splendid Spoon
Pros
- Good selection of grab and go smoothies, juices, and wellness shots
- Offers a week dietary reset option
- Mostly organic ingredients
- The menu includes healthy grain bowls, noodle bowls, and more
- Decent pricing with frequent discount offers
- Usually offers free shipping
Cons
- Less flexibility of meals plans than other meal delivery services
- Must purchase an On-Demand Box for extras
- Some less than stellar customer service reviews
Daily Harvest
Pros
- Great variety of fresh, plant-inspired flavors
- Nutritious menu of chia bowls, oat bowls, soups & more delivered weekly
- A la carte system for ordering
- More flexibility with no pre-set plans
- Ethical and sustainable ingredient sourcing
Cons
- Smoothies need to be blended
- Less accommodating to some special dietary needs
- Typically more costly than Splendid Spoon
Dietary Options
Splendid Spoon
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Daily Harvest
Both Splendid Spoon and Daily Harvest offer plant-based meal solutions, which automatically means they don’t include certain ingredients like dairy or animal meat products in their meals and snacks. This is ideal if you have a dairy allergy or intolerance, but there are other dietary preferences you may be concerned about.
Splendid Spoon makes an effort to make sure as many people as possible can enjoy their meals. All of Splendid Spoon’s meals are gluten-free, and they take extra measures and follow protocols to ensure there’s no risk of cross-contamination.
Additionally, Splendid Spoon offers meals that fit into a range of special dietary preferences. While their menu isn’t designed specifically around each of these preferences, they do offer options for people who are looking for meals that are higher in plant-based protein, that are aligned with the Whole30 lifestyle, aligned to WeightWatchers, are suitable for diabetics and people following low sodium diets.
You can filter Splendid Spoon meals by special dietary preferences that include high-fiber, high-protein, low-fat, low-calorie, low sugar, low carb (although not specifically keto-friendly), low sodium, and blood sugar friendly. Keep in mind that Splendid Spoon doesn’t design dietary programs specifically for any of these dietary needs, so selections may be limited based on your choices.
Daily Harvest also focuses on plant-based meal options, which means that they’re also dairy-free along with being gluten-free. Many of their meals are soy-free, but they do use some soy-based products in their meals. One thing to keep in mind is that Daily Harvest prepares its meals in a facility that processes dairy, gluten, nut, and soy ingredients. If cross-contamination is a concern for you, it’s best to contact Daily Harvest directly.
Dietary Options Winner
Both Splendid Spoon and Daily Harvest are great plant-based meal delivery solutions that are both dairy-free and gluten-free. However, we give the award to Splendid Spoon in this category because they offer selections that fit a wider range of dietary preferences, and they make it easier to enjoy appropriate dietary meals with a long list of menu filters.
Meal Prep & Variety
Splendid Spoon
Daily Harvest
Because both Daily harvest and Splendid Spoon aim to include the freshest, highest quality ingredients in their meals, you’ll find that many of them arrive frozen. Unlike meal kits that require time cooking and sometimes doing a little prep, Daily Harvest and Splendid Spoon meals require nothing more than heating or, in some cases, tossing some ingredients in a blender. All meals can be ready in just a few minutes.
Daily Harvest’s menu features all sorts of yummy categories of plant-based meals. When pursuing the menu, you first come across Daily Harvest’s selection of nutrient-dense smoothies. There are more than two dozen smoothie options, and preparation is as simple as adding some type of liquid like water, coconut water, juice, almond milk, or another type of plant-based milk and then giving it a whirl in the blender.
Daily Harvest also offers a menu of about twenty Harvest Bowls, about ten tasty soups, plus Forager Bowls, flatbreads, Harvest Bakes, snacks, and more. For the sweet tooth, there’s also a wonderful selection of dairy-free ice cream.
Splendid Spoon has an equally colorful and diverse menu of plant-based, tasty meals. They offer a selection of about twenty ready-to-drink smoothies. Splendid Spoon’s smoothies come in a nice variety of flavors to please most any palate, whether you’re looking for something tropical and sweet or green with just a hint of sweetness.
In addition to pre-blended smoothies, Splendid Spoon also offers soup and grain bowls, noodle bowls, and extras like cold-pressed juices and wellness shots.
Meal Prep & Variety Winner
This was a tough call. We love that Splendid Spoon’s smoothies are pre-blended and come in so many flavors. But, Daily Harvest smoothies are packed with so much fresh fruit and vegetables, plus you can customize what you want to blend them with. We also can’t deny the great variety of Daily Harvest’s menu, which makes eating healthy and following plant-based diets something that’s both super easy and delicious.
Ingredients
Splendid Spoon
- Non-GMO
grass Organic- Grass Fed
- Wild-Caught
Daily Harvest
The quality of ingredients included with your pre-made meals makes a huge difference in how they taste. Both Daily Harvest and Splendid Spoon do a wonderful job of committing to using the freshest, most flavor-packed ingredients they can find. But, you may also be wondering about details like whether they use non-GMO or organic plant-based ingredients.
Both plant-based meal delivery services work toward using entirely organic ingredients in their pre-made meals, although neither is 100% organic. One reason is that not all ingredients are available with an organic option, but second, working toward being fully organic is a work in progress.
Daily Harvest uses 95% organic ingredients, and they always use organic when it comes to the EWG’s Dirty Dozen list. To further support a more sustainable, organic farming system, Daily Harvest also works with and supports farmers who are transitioning to organic farming. Maybe not all of their ingredients are organic, but they are taking steps to get there, which is important.
Likewise, Splendid Spoon’s meals are also mostly organic and aim to hit that 95% organic mark. They also are committed to ensuring any ingredient that’s used in their meals that’s found on the Dirty Dozen list is also organic. Splendid Spoon’s ingredients are also non-GMO. If you have a question about whether a specific ingredient is organic, Splendid Spoon makes it easy to check by noting all ingredients that are organic within the ingredients and nutritional information.
Ingredients Winner
Splendid Spoon and Daily Harvest are almost identical in the quality of ingredients that they offer. We choose Daily Harvest as the winner for this category because while both meal delivery services offer about 95% organic ingredients in their meals, we really like the transparency and forward movement of Daily Harvest supporting transitioning farmers.
Taste & Sample Meals
Splendid Spoon
Company Name
Now, for the good part. Let’s talk about taste. When comparing Splendid Spoon Vs. Daily Harvest, we found that both meal delivery services offer a selection of meal choices with great, fresh-tasting flavors. Neither is so heavily done with sauces or spices that it interferes with the natural, delicious flavors of the plant-based ingredients.
Let’s start with Splendid Spoon Smoothies. Splendid Spoon smoothies come in a variety of flavors, like dragon fruit berry with pineapple juice and chia seeds, mint chip smoothies with melty cacao chips, and a green matcha smoothie with avocado and spirulina.
But, Splendid Spoon’s menu is about more than just their smoothies. They offer soup and grain bowls in a variety of flavors like Channa Potato Stew, Butternut Squash Ratatouille Soup, and Coconut Curry grain bowls, along with a selection of light soups that are aligned with their reset plan. The Creamy Butternut Squash Noodles are a favorite on the menu, along with their grab-and-go selection of wellness shots.
Daily Harvest’s smoothies are ready to blend and are offered in flavors such as Strawberry Peach, Mango & Greens, Dragon Fruit & Lychee, and Cold Brew Cacao, with the secret ingredient of cauliflower.
The Harvest Bowls and Bakes are delicious and offered in tasty combinations like Sweet Potato Wild Rice Hash, Roasted Eggplant and Red Pepper Caponata, and Squash Wild Rice Gratin.
Some other favorites on the Daily Harvest menu include the Tumeric + Lemongrass Broth, oat bowls, and chia bowls in flavors like Cinnamon Banana and Vanilla Bean Apple, creamy non-dairy ice cream treats, bite-size snacks, lattes, and more.
Taste Winner
We really like Daily Harvest for their unique variety of flavors, especially with their chia bowls and oat bowls and plant-based soups that are great for breakfast, lunch, or even an evening snack. We think their menu and flavors are innovative and interesting. In customer reviews, Daily Harvest also slightly beats out Splendid Spoon for taste.
Pricing
Splendid Spoon
MEALS PER WEEK | PRICE PER MEAL |
Smoothies | $9.99 |
Soups | $12.49 |
Noodles & Dishes | $13.49 |
Daily Harvest
MEALS | PRICE | PRICE PER SERVING |
Smoothies | $8.49 | $8.49 |
Harvest Bowls | $9.79 | $9.79 |
Pasta | $9.79 | $4.90 |
Flatbreads | $9.79 | $9.79 |
Soups | $8.49 | $8.49 |
Forager Bowls | $6.79 | $6.79 |
Grains | $9.79 | $2.45 |
Bites | $7.99 | $1.14 |
Pops | $9.99 | $1.25 |
Mylk | $7.99 | $1.00 |
A delicious meal delivery service like Daily Harvest or Splendid Spoon is only good for you. They offer a meal plan that meets your needs and budget.
Splendid Spoon’s meals are designed to be enjoyed as part of a healthy eating meal plan. They offer several meal plan options that include the breakfast-lunch-dinner reset plan, which features an entire week’s worth of meals, plus a reset day that includes a menu of light soups. You can choose your own meals, but they need to fit into pre-designated categories, such as five soups or five noodle bowls. This reset is the largest plan that Splendid Spoon offers, and it costs in the ballpark of $195, but they often offer a deal on it.
Other plans from Splendid Spoo include a breakfast plan, lunch plan, and breakfast + lunch reset plan. When you sign up for a meal delivery subscription, you can expect a delivery every week. They also offer what they call an On-Demand Box where you can stock up on your favorites. Splendid Spoon’s pricing varies depending on the meal plan you choose, so there are options for most budgets. Plus, they frequently offer free shipping.
Rather than offering specific plans, Daily Harvest offers more of and a la carte-style program. Each item on the menu is priced individually, so you can tailor your weekly delivery based on your need and even your budget. There isn’t a minimum order with Daily Harvest, but you do receive a discount with larger orders.
For example, their smoothies are currently priced at $8.49 per portion, and their Harvest Bowls are $9.79. If you order at least nine items, there’s a $5 discount on your order. You have to order at least twenty-four items for their largest discount of $25. Shipping is often free with Daily Harvest.
Pricing Winner
While we like that you don’t really have to follow a plan with Daily Harvest and therefore can customize the cost of your box, Splendid Spoon pricing comes out to be more affordable, especially if you’re able to take advantage of the great deals they offer. It’s not uncommon to be able to score $50 or more off of one of their meal plans, which drastically slashes the cost per portion with Splendid Spoon.
Packaging & Recycling
Splendid Spoon
Daily Harvest
The packaging a meal delivery service uses is important for keeping your meals fresh, but it’s also important that they take steps to minimize packaging and their environmental footprint as much as possible.
Splendid Spoon’s packaging materials are 100% recyclable, and most components can go right inside your curbside recycling bin. They’ve also taken the eco-friendly step of using dry ice in their deliveries to keep everything nice and cold without using additional packaging materials. Make sure to check on Splendid Spoons website for instructions on how to recycle packaging and carefully handle that dry ice!
Likewise, all of the packaging materials that Daily Harvest uses are also recyclable, and they also take advantage of eco-friendly dry ice. Their dry ice is packaged in a liner that’s made of paper and plant-based parts, so it’s curbside recycling friendly. You can check out Daily Harvest’s website for more information on how to efficiently recycle all of its packaging materials.
Packaging & Recycling Winner
Splendid Spoon and Daily Harvest are nearly identical in their packaging and recycling packages. With that said, we went with Splendid Spoon for this category for this because they always seem to be making forward movements in packaging and recycling innovations.
Customer Service
Daily Harvest makes it about as easy as possible to manage your account. There’s no minimum duration that’s required with them, and you can skip weeks, pause your subscription indefinitely, or cancel your service all by accessing your account on their website.
Splendid Spoon also makes it easy to modify, skip a week, pause, or cancel your subscription by accessing your account on their website. One thing to make sure of is that you note the cutoff days and times for making changes to your order.
Customer Service Winner
While both companies make it easy to manage your account online, Daily Harvest has better customer reviews for their customer service departments. Sometimes you need to listen to the masses when choosing a winner, and in this case, Daily Harvest wins.
Winner
Daily Harvest
It’s hard not to love both Daily Harvest and Splendid Spoon for the great-tasting, plant-based meals they offer. Splendid Spoon offers wonderfully nutritious meals, but Daily Harvest comes out on top for its variety, quality ingredients, flexibility, and overall taste. Still, you might find that Splendid Spoon works best for you. Here are a few things to consider before taking the plunge.
Choose Daily Harvest if you:
- Enjoy GF and dairy-free meals and aren’t worried about cross-contamination
- Love a variety of healthy, plant-inspired meals
- Love ready to blend smoothies with fresh flavors
- Like being able to taste real food instead of heavy sauces and spices
- Like not being confined to a certain meal plan every week
Choose Splendid Spoon if you:
- Have special dietary needs or preferences
- Like the grab and go smoothie option
- Enjoy add-ons like wellness shots
- Want a more defined meal program to follow
- Like the idea of a weekly dietary reset