Chicken is one of the most popular proteins for home cooks. It’s versatile, budget-friendly, and a lean source of protein. With meal kit delivery services like Home Chef surging in popularity in recent years, many home cooks are wondering – where exactly does Home Chef source their chicken from?
As one of the leading meal kit companies in the United States, Home Chef has made a commitment to provide high-quality ingredients, including responsibly raised poultry. Let’s take a closer look at how Home Chef selects suppliers for their chicken
How Home Chef Vets Potential Chicken Suppliers
Home Chef has strict standards when it comes to choosing suppliers for their chicken. Their team thoroughly vets each potential partner assessing
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Sustainability practices – Home Chef prioritizes suppliers who engage in ethical, sustainable farming This includes minimizing environmental impact, reducing waste, and efficient processing practices
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Animal welfare – Ensuring humane treatment of chickens is a top priority. Home Chef only works with suppliers who meet animal welfare standards and do not use antibiotics.
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Food safety – Rigorous food safety protocols must be followed across the supply chain. Home Chef suppliers must comply with all federal and state regulations.
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Quality – Only high-quality, premium chickens make the cut. Factors like breed, diet, genetics, and processing are all analyzed.
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Traceability – Complete traceability from farm to table is required. This ensures quality control and accountability.
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Consistency – Suppliers must show consistent performance in all areas like sizing, freshness, taste, and appearance.
By thoroughly vetting suppliers, Home Chef can feel confident they are providing customers with the best quality chicken available.
Where Home Chef’s Chicken Comes From
Home Chef sources their chicken from numerous suppliers across the United States. While they don’t disclose exact sources, we do know:
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The majority of their chicken comes from the Midwest and Southeast regions of the U.S. where poultry farming is most concentrated.
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The specific states are not named, but likely include major chicken producing states like Georgia, Arkansas, Alabama, North Carolina, and others.
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A smaller percentage of their chicken may come from other regions like the West Coast to meet demand.
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Only family-owned farms and mid-size suppliers are used – no large industrial operations. This allows for better oversight and relationships.
By using multiple suppliers and sourcing locally when possible, Home Chef can provide fresh, high-quality chicken nationwide.
How Home Chef Ensures Chicken Quality and Safety
Home Chef implements several practices to guarantee only the best chicken reaches customers’ plates:
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Veterinary audits – Regular third-party veterinary audits verify humane treatment and living conditions at supplier farms.
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Random testing – Samples are routinely tested for bacteria like salmonella and quality checked.
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Temperature controls – Chicken is immediately chilled post-processing and kept at safe temperatures throughout transit.
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Minimal processing – Suppliers use minimal processing without artificial ingredients to preserve taste.
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Best-by dates – Conservative best-by dates are used to ensure freshness.
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Traceability – If any issue arises, complete farm-to-table traceability allows rapid response.
By controlling every step, Home Chef delivers wholesome, safe chicken you can feel good about serving your family.
How Customers Benefit from Home Chef’s Chicken Sourcing
Home Chef’s selective sourcing and rigorous standards offer multiple advantages for customers:
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Premium quality – Chicken is juicy, tender, and flavorful since suppliers use superior breeds and diets.
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Safety assurance – Customers can feel confident serving Home Chef chicken with safety checks at every turn.
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Convenience – Pre-portioned, fresh chicken eliminates grocery store trips and prep work.
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Variety – Home Chef offers an array of chicken meals, from classics like chicken parm to global dishes like chicken tikka masala.
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Dietary options – Chicken choices accommodate preferences like organic, antibiotic-free, and gluten-free.
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New experiences – Customers can expand their palates with unique chicken creations they wouldn’t think to try at home.
Thanks to Home Chef’s sourcing, customers enjoy a better chicken experience in every box.
Home Chef Chicken Supplier Requirements and Standards
Home Chef maintains strict standards and requirements for all their chicken suppliers. Here are some key details on what suppliers must adhere to:
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Chickens must be raised cage-free in spacious, clean housing with room to engage in natural behaviors.
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Antibiotic-free feed and medications are prohibited unless required for disease treatment under a veterinarian’s supervision. Routine use is banned.
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Humane transport and processing must be demonstrated. No extreme crowding, climate control is mandatory, and minimal wait times before processing.
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Third-party audits by accredited organizations are performed regularly at each facility to enforce welfare policies.
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Standards for air quality, lighting, enrichment features like perches and dust bathing, access to the outdoors, biosecurity, and population density must be met.
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Chickens must be fed nutritious, high-quality feeds appropriate for their species and age, optimized for growth and health.
By partnering only with suppliers aligned with their stringent animal welfare policy, Home Chef can deliver feel-good chicken to their customers.
How Home Chef Is Making Sustainable Progress
In addition to animal welfare, Home Chef is committed to improving sustainability across their supply chain through initiatives like:
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Transitioning to recyclable or compostable packaging materials to reduce landfill waste.
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Using minimal packaging and optimizing box dimensions to lower carbon emissions from shipping.
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Partnering with suppliers implementing regenerative farming practices that enrich soil health and absorb carbon.
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Cutting food waste by delivering the exact portion sizes needed for recipes to customers.
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Providing meat from heritage breed animals requiring fewer resources to raise.
Though they have made good strides, Home Chef acknowledges there is more work to be done. But they are dedicated to becoming an increasingly sustainable company, starting with responsible chicken sourcing.
Home Chef’s Specialty and Custom Chicken Offerings
Beyond their classic chicken staples, Home Chef incorporates innovative offerings to satisfy diverse customer cravings:
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Global recipes – Chicken tagine, chicken tikka masala, jerk chicken, and more bring international flavors.
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Diet-specific – Paleo, keto, gluten-free, and vegetarian customers can find chicken dishes tailored to their needs.
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Premium cuts – Bone-in chicken thighs, breasts stuffed with cheese, whole legs, and wings add flair.
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Marinades and rubs – Think chili-lime, Cajun spice, buttermilk herb, harissa, and more mouthwatering flavors.
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Cooking methods – Chicken noodle soup, fried chicken, grilled chicken, chicken pot pie – the variety is endless!
Customers can also modify proteins, sides, and cooking instructions for most meals to get their chicken exactly how they like it.
The Takeaway: Home Chef Chicken You Can Trust
When it comes to sourcing quality ingredients like chicken, Home Chef clearly goes the extra mile to satisfy their customers. From third-party audits to traceability programs, they implement rigorous processes to verify the chicken arriving on doorsteps is fresh, ethical, and delicious. Home Chef only partners with suppliers aligned with their quality and welfare standards to deliver chicken you can feel good about eating.
So the next time you are enjoying a Home Chef meal with juicy, flavorful chicken, you can relax knowing exactly where that chicken came from – suppliers as committed to excellence as Home Chef itself.
Signing Up for Home Chef
Home Chef technically offers two meal plans:
- The Home Chef Plan includes meal kits with preportioned ingredients and recipe instructions.
- The Family Plan offers the same, but the meals are supposed to be a little easier to make so children can get involved in the cooking — and the meals will have simpler flavors that picky eaters may be more likely to eat. The Family Plan is also $1 cheaper per serving.
I loved that I could review the plans and the types of meals Home Chef offers — including the ingredients and instructions — before I signed up, which several meal delivery services don’t allow. This gave me a clear idea of what I was getting myself into.
I chose to sign up for the Home Chef plan. I was asked to identify my dietary and lifestyle needs, the number of meals I wanted each week, and the number of servings per meal.
Then I entered my billing information (to be charged by the purchase deadline for each week’s delivery), delivery address, and day of week for delivery. Finally, I made a login password to create an account and got to the fun part: selecting my meals.
Each week Home Chef chose three meals for me based on my selected dietary and lifestyle needs, such as Protein-Packed Meals, Gluten-Smart Meals, or Vegetarian Meals. I wanted all the options, so I selected I’ll Eat Anything, but requested no mushrooms.
I could edit their selected three meals from more than 35 meals and 18 extras. I found their picks a little basic — like the traditional trifecta of chicken, vegetable, and potato — so I decided to choose my own meals that excited me more.
I chose:
I could have also added another meal for the standard cost-per-serving, so I added Popcorn Chicken and Mashed Potatoes. (I could also drop a meal if I wanted).
Using the Customize It tool, I swapped out the chicken thighs in the last meal, opting for shrimp instead.
Then I selected my extras. Available were bagged salads, broccoli, more proteins (such as chicken, salmon, steak, or shrimp), desserts, breakfasts, bread, and appetizers.
I skipped one week, and I added a single-serving lunch meal each week, plus a mac-and-cheese side dish for my child and bagged salads to up the vegetable content.
I was able to choose my meals up to five weeks in advance. The meal offerings change each week, so there’s always something new to try.
I chose to try several different add-ons. I have a child who is a bit of a picky eater, so I added a loaf of sourdough bread and a pint of oh-so-creamy smoked Gouda macaroni and cheese for $11.98 as a backup.
I also tried the bacon, egg, and cheese waffle sandwich for breakfast, but it was cloying and didn’t feel worth the $10.48 price for a pack of two. It didn’t feel like enough food for breakfast, so I added some spinach to it because I like a little fresh produce in every meal.
The bottled smoothies and canned La Colombe caramel lattes (two for $7.98) contained too much sugar, so I skipped those. But I was tempted by the halved Brussels sprouts, extra chopped broccoli, and bagged salads. I ended up getting two Mediterranean Mix bagged salads to add more greens to a lacking dinner. Unfortunately, the balsamic dressing also contained a lot of sugar. My desserts included fudge brownie bites, cookies-and-cream cookie skillet, and apple crisp cake.
I could’ve also added more proteins, such as chicken breasts, salmon filets, shrimp, filet mignon, and combo packs. Those combos included appetizer duos like empanadas and gyozas for $14.98; two egg, cheese, and bacon waffle sandwiches with two caramel latte cans for $17.48; and an Everything chopped salad and two ready-to-cook chicken breasts (which was sold out at the time) for $12.98.
How Much Does Home Chef Cost?
Every customer gets an introductory promotion rate of 40 percent off and free shipping for the first order, then 30 percent off your next three orders. (This promotion expires within 10 weeks of your sign-up date, so keep that in mind if you decide to skip weeks.)
The Home Chef Plan starts at $7.99 per meal, and the Family Plan starts at $6.99. But after I entered my zip code it showed that four-serving meals thrice weekly was $9.99 per meal for the Home Chef plan after the promotion period ended. So the regular price would be $120 per week, plus a $10.99 shipping fee per delivery. For the Family Plan, after I entered my zip code the regular price was $7.99 per serving for four-serving meals three times a week — about $96 per week, plus the $10.99 shipping fee.
If you want to swap proteins, add a Culinary Collection meal with premium ingredients, or get other extras like dinner rolls or bagels, those cost extra.
The cost is about average compared to other meal kit delivery services. The ingredients are more expensive than what you’d find at a supermarket, but the value lies in the convenience — eliminating the burden of meal planning and grocery shopping. Home Chef also helps reduce food waste because you get the exact amount of each ingredient, so there are no unused fresh ingredients going to waste.
Become a Home Chef with Smart Chicken
FAQ
Does Home Chef use organic chicken?
Forget the grocery store or the butcher; we provide eight organic chicken breasts and enough turkey to keep you satisfied until Thanksgiving, delivered to …
Where do Home Chef meals come from?
The Chicago-based company delivers nationwide from its distribution centers in Chicago, Atlanta, and San Bernardino.
What is the downside of Home Chef?
The final verdict on Home Chef
In the end, many of the meal kits I prepared just felt unrefined and some of the recipes were a bit clunky. I could let that slide if Home Chef meal kits cost less than they do, but at $10 to $12 a serving, many of the meals I made just didn’t seem worth the price.
Where are Home Chef meals shipped from?
With distribution centers in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Lithonia, Georgia, Home Chef delivers meals to all of the lower 48 states. Each meal kit comes with recyclable packaging, pre-portioned ingredients, and meal instructions.