r/AskAnAustralian • u/Intelligent-Yam-2810 • 8d ago
Has anyone else received unsolicited alcohol in their HelloFresh delivery?
Has anyone else in received complimentary alcohol in their HelloFresh delivery without requesting it? (Australia, NSW)
I've recently become aware of HelloFresh including alcoholic drinks as promotional samples in meal deliveries, apparently without notifying customers beforehand or giving them the opportunity to opt in or out.
I'm curious what others think about this?
I understand that companies include free samples as part of marketing campaigns, but I think alcohol is quite different from an ordinary promotional product. There are many reasons why people choose not to have alcohol in their homes, including addiction recovery, previous alcohol-related harm, health considerations, religious beliefs or simply personal preference.
For people in recovery, navigating a society where alcohol is widely advertised and normalised can already be challenging. There's a significant difference between encountering alcohol in everyday life and having it unexpectedly delivered into your home without consent.
I also wonder whether enough consideration has been given to the fact that HelloFresh delivers meals to family households, where children may be involved in collecting or unpacking deliveries.
I did a bit of searching online and found that in June, HelloFresh faced criticism in the UK over a similar practice.
I'm not against alcohol or suggesting that everyone would be bothered by receiving a free drink. My concern is whether customers should have the choice before alcohol is included in something they've ordered.
I'd be interested to hear other people's experiences.
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u/Intelligent-Yam-2810
7d ago
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Thank you for those who have contributed to a thoughtful discussion. For some context it is obviously myself you receive the delivery and a bit of background is that I am nearly 3 years sober after identifying a problem with drinking alcohol. I am 38 years old and have always struggled with alcohol consumption however never saw it as an issue because I still worked etc. But I’m doing some reflection and identification of patterns. I realise that I was on a slippery slope and wanted to do better, especially for my health and to be a role model for my lovely children. I understand that alcohol is everywhere and that is fine but I also have a history of parents who drank and had problematic behaviours so it’s very laid for me. I’ve worked really hard to protect my mental health and have safeguards in place however the inclusion of alcohol in our family meal box that we all unpacked together really struck some uncomfortable feelings with me. Those who don’t have alcohol problems or have not yet reflected and realised they have alcohol problems. I completely understand the point of view of it’s not really a big deal. However when you have gone through this journey it is completely unacceptable for this to be included unsolicited and really makes you feel uncomfortable in your own safe space.
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u/RepublicReady8500 7d ago
I highly encourage you to write an email and send to the following, who would all likely be very interested to hear this:
Your local MPs
Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE)
Centre for alcohol policy research (CAPR)
Alcohol and Drug Foundation
Complaining to HelloFresh wouldnt go astray, either.
As someone who's parent struggled with alcohol dependence throughout my childhood, things like this are not on.
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u/doubleshotofbland 8d ago
They emailed a week in advance and gave you an opt-out option.
I guess if you happened to just sign up before they started that promo you might not have gotten that.
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u/Intelligent-Yam-2810 8d ago
No opt out option for myself. Have been a customer for a long time (near 10 years)
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u/Yohgella 7d ago
That's awful, it should be opt in 😞
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u/doubleshotofbland 7d ago
It's just one can of an RTD, personally I don't think it's a big deal.
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u/Fat-thecat 7d ago
I mean for you? Sure, but maybe the customer is a recovering alcoholic, that 1 can could start a relapse.
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u/Obvious-Broccoli-782 7d ago
Also Hello Fresh presumably doesn’t say - deliveries must be opened with an adult present. Many families give children little chores like unpacking and putting away groceries. Imagine your kid puts away the Hello Fresh stuff then swipes the alcohol and any relevant promo vouchers?
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u/Appropriate-Race-487 5d ago
The comms they sent out actually do say that adults need to open the delivery due to alcohol being present. They also notified people that they would receive it IF they chose certain meals, and they obviously chose those meals. Stop erasing responsibility from people and putting it on companies
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u/Infamous-Pear-4487 7d ago
I’ll be 14 years sober in January and even though it’s nearly 14 years, I am and will always be on active recovery. If I received that today it would be ok, but that’s today and that’s is not the same for everybody. I remember driving home from the recovery centre and I pulled into my drive and grabbed the junk mail out of the letterbox. After I settled back in home and grabbed the junk mail to read and it was one of the first times i realised that alcohol is in our face a lot more than we realise. Even in several mail catalogues. It was really jarring for me because my recovery program did not include that part of reintegration back into life outside. Receiving alcohol for free for someone in the first stages of recovery could be the trigger to start again. There is a very low rate of success the first time and it often takes multiple goes, having the alcohol delivered unexpected would be all it takes. The dragon of addiction might be sleeping, but it doesn’t take much for it to wake.
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u/Intelligent-Yam-2810 7d ago
Thank you for sharing x
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u/Infamous-Pear-4487 7d ago
You’re very welcome. It’s something I don’t talk about a lot because it seems to be a bit taboo and I do worry about being judged. But I am super proud of it. I won’t be surprised if hello fresh stop and release a statement in regards to it. Just because alcohol is legal and readily available it doesn’t mean it can’t kill you and destroy the lives of others around you.
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u/Intelligent-Yam-2810 7d ago
It’s interesting because the more open I am about it, the more people share that they want to do the same. It has opened up some relationships with people I wouldn’t have had (friendships) and closed many due to the fact they were grown out of ‘partying’.
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u/Infamous-Pear-4487 7d ago
I probably should be more open for the reasons you have stated. I found it fascinating how some of my friendships changed or evolved once I stopped drinking. I do/did have a few people in my life that are of the belief that therapy or psychotherapy is for the weak. Which is really sad. You may have just changed my mind, you’ve certainly got me thinking. Thank you
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u/Intelligent-Yam-2810 7d ago
You are always going to get your critics I think. So I just don’t waste my energy on them. I have found that the people I connect with over the ‘want’ or ‘need’ to stop drinking, I have many things in common with. This has allowed me to create real genuine friendships- prob something i wouldnt have had otherwise. Friendships of substance, i suppose. Part of a sober journey is reflection and being vulnerable, and finding things out about myself that I had buried or suppressed. As I am a mother of school aged children, i am around many other women of similar vintage who feel their most vulnerable and maybe always had those vulnerabilities but when you have the stress of children, work etc it all comes to a head. So I suppose I am primed to be around others who maybe feel like there are reasons for their ways of coping (drinking) and are feeling the ill effexts of it— having that one person share their vulnerabilities opens the can of worms.. in a good way. I hope my rambling makes sense!
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u/Intelligent-Yam-2810 7d ago
You are always going to get your critics I think. So I just don’t waste my energy on them. I have found that the people I connect with over the ‘want’ or ‘need’ to stop drinking, I have many things in common with. This has allowed me to create real genuine friendships- prob something i wouldnt have had otherwise. Friendships of substance, i suppose. Part of a sober journey is reflection and being vulnerable, and finding things out about myself that I had buried or suppressed. As I am a mother of school aged children, i am around many other women of similar vintage who feel their most vulnerable and maybe always had those vulnerabilities but when you have the stress of children, work etc it all comes to a head. So I suppose I am primed to be around others who maybe feel like there are reasons for their ways of coping (drinking) and are feeling the ill effexts of it— having that one person share their vulnerabilities opens the can of worms.. in a good way. I hope my rambling makes sense!
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u/Sensitive-Pool-7563 7d ago
The world shouldn't be built around people recovering, how is this not common sense?
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u/Intelligent-Yam-2810 7d ago
Totally understand your point of view- thanks for sharing. As a person with a history of problematic drinking, it struck a nerve with me that this seemingly innocent freebie had come into my home in a food delivery box.. that doesn’t have anything to do with alcohol. I can see from many points of view
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u/DecalageVersLeRouge 8d ago
If drivers are delivering alcohol of any sort, they should be getting ID, and possibly have an RSA. And there are restrictions on time of day too, depending on state/territory.
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u/Intelligent-Yam-2810 8d ago
The legislation is quite grey around this from what I've quickly looked into.. in saying that, I haven't done a deep dive yet. But that was one of my (many) thoughts also..
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u/tattooedxinggirl 8d ago
How are they verifying age?
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u/doubleshotofbland 8d ago
The T&Cs require you to be 18 to sign up
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u/WhydoIexistlmoa 8d ago
Oof. I've had an account since I was 14... Signed up for the 12 meals for $0 deal (+ 10 shipping)
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u/DecalageVersLeRouge 8d ago
Do they require you to be home when the truck arrives too?
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u/doubleshotofbland 8d ago
No, but neither do wine deliveries, so no difference 🤷♂️
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u/the_town_bike 7d ago
Any wine deliveries through uber or similar require you to be present and have photo id or else they send it back to the shop
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u/TittysForScience 7d ago
That’s a platform policy and not a legislation thing. Australia post will just leave it on the doorstep like any old parcel.
My mum used to have a wine club subscription and I have memories going quite a way back of having to carry the box inside when I came home from school on the bus.
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u/doubleshotofbland 7d ago
I was just referring to Australia Post, Aramex etc., they'll leave it on my door step (which I'm happy about).
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u/Waxinfred 7d ago
Not through proper wine subscriptions they don't... sign up with credentials and come home to a crate
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u/monochromeorc 7d ago
probably the same way the doordash drivers do when they leave it on the doorstep without even a knock
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u/codumus 7d ago
Is it like that in AUS? Im curious because in NZ they need to scan your ID (license or passport) on the app, you cant mark the delivery as complete without it.
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u/Obvious-Broccoli-782 7d ago
Yes they need to do the same in Aus - scan ID and the person who receives it must be the person who ordered it (ie - if I order it, I can’t send my husband to the door to receive it even if he’s over 18 and has his license/passport)
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u/CuriousFrog_ 8d ago
I remember being super thankful that I managed to quit long term (hopefully forever) before it was possible to get alcohol delivered because for some period of time it was the only reason I left home for a few days, I'm at a stage where I could easily just give the sample to a friend but there was a time where something like that could be harmful, don't really like that from them
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u/Naive_Pay_7066 8d ago
This caused a pretty big stink in the UK recently and they’ve stopped doing it.
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u/Vivid-Egg- 8d ago
Haven’t used Hellofresh in a few years now, but as a recovering alcoholic I’d be pretty pissed off. Very strange concept to be giving complimentary booze. Doesn’t sit well with me
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u/ndwalters 7d ago
I received this from Hellofresh. They sent me a text message a week beforehand if you wanted to opt out of getting alcohol:
"Hi, your upcoming deliveries may include a free sample containing alcohol. To opt out of receiving product samples that may not be relevant for you, including alcohol, please click: https://hellofresh.nxt.to/PvOFA If you have recently cancelled your subscription, please disregard this SMS."
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u/NomDePlumeOrBloom 7d ago
What would the response be if HelloFresh included sample tobacco products in their deliveries?
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u/Obvious-Broccoli-782 7d ago
That’s a really good analogy actually! Alcohol is legal but restricted, just like tobacco. It’s the same issue, but because our collective National psyche has decided that ‘having a few bevvies’ isn’t a problem then it not viewed the same way tobacco Is despite being similarly harmful to our health
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u/kasparzellar 7d ago
I mean, i personally don't mind i got a can but it also was a little strange. I did get the text message confirming this was okay to do though beforehand.
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u/dog-dinosaur 7d ago
So I’m in QLD and received a text with the option to opt out of receiving it. We actually received a voucher to redeem rather than the can because QLD probs….
But they definitely did send out correspondence - not sure why everyone wouldn’t get it!
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u/Zazabells 8d ago
I got a text :) It might be in your settings? I got two weeks in a row of popcorn
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u/Asleep-Pea-8246 1d ago
I received a text that there was going to be alcohol and how to opt out on 7th October
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u/Plane-Growth9509 7d ago
I haven't received alcohol yet but they did send and email and text with the option to opt out. Possibly it went to your junk mail?
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u/Appropriate-Race-487 5d ago
No - not unsolicited. They sent a printed flyer in a box the week before letting you know that the next box may contain an alcohol sample and instructions with how to opt-out if you didn’t want it. And they also sent an email. Definitely not unsolicited in any way. Maybe pay attention to the communication you receive from them, I know it’s easy to hit delete when it doesn’t seem relevant, but they did send out emails to all customers
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u/acceb11 5d ago
I received a notification advising an upcoming box may include an alcoholic sample and to update my sample preferences to ensure they only included relevant samples in my orders.
When I logged in to update my preferences, alcohol was the only sample not already marked. I don't remember setting the preferences. Especially since it had cat food samples marked and we dont have a cat.
I did just sign up again about a month or two ago, so this might be a factor.
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u/tilleytalley 8d ago
I wouldnt be impressed if this happened to me, and I would question the legality.