It was pretty funny when I asked in our small convenience store in our North London neighbourhood what this new product Huel was all about they said they didn’t know. The Saturday girl told me she thought the owner had made a mistake because it was near the milk and it was the only thing that wasn’t selling. I got my phone out to investigate. I was curious.

Huel - The no prep meal that doesn’t compromise on your health. I liked the strap line and the packaging, I thought why not.

When you think of a complete meal in a shake if you are like me you think of those high calorie meal replacements they give to OAPs withering away and in need of serious nutrition, easy to injest, a meal in a shake. Brands, Ensure, Fortisip Or Complan are the names this vision conjures up. Not sexy, not young, not inspiring.

And then Huel pops up (cute right, sounds like fuel, of course you got that, I confess it took a woman to point it out to me, she’s in marketing) the complete opposite, same concept except targeted at the young, beautiful people, that offers a complete nutrition solution that supports your body, your goals. Your mind and your life.

The idea is the product range is convenient for busy folk on the go, foods that will help you manage your weight, snacking on the go with healthy nutritious bars, increase protein intake whilst still being completely vegan, a problem for plant based advocates and the company Huel offer snacks as well as delicious shakes and hot meals.

I noticed Huel shakes on the shelf in my local supermarket and I have to say the clean packaging did peak my interest. I like a new health product and am usually open to give a healthy protein bar a go. The packaging is fresh and young and as someone working on reducing my dairy intake the distinct Vegan labelling on the packaging did appeal.

I bought a shake, it wasn’t cheap A single Huel ready-to-drink shake (500ml bottle) cost me £3.50. The higher-protein Black Edition version costs more, at £3.80 per serving. This wasn’t available. I tried the chocolate shake.

They have a few flavours, banana, salted caramel, vanilla.

Now a McDonald’s chocolate shake, which I am quite partial to it was not, that said it’s way better for you. Huel use superfood ingredients like Pea protein, Flaxseed, Oats, Faba Bean protein and Coconut to make their products.

I know they don’t make it sound very appealing but I was very pleasantly surprised. I didn’t have to hold my nose to get it down. It was quite delicious actually. Not overly sweet but a nice texture and quite chocolatey. It didn’t taste weird which I have experienced in the past when I’ve ventured into flaxseed territory in the past.

The number one notable thing to mention was how sustaining it was, I didn’t feel hungry for ages afterwards and actually ended up missing lunch completely that day, not on purpose it just happened. And that rarely happens on a Saturday, we almost always enjoy a brunch out.

Would I buy again, budget permitting yeah sure. I think a couple of these in the fridge at home could replace my cheeky hot chocolate treat of a morning with my croissant and defo substitute those less than healthy sugary MacDonalds shakes I am so partial to even though they are almost double the price.

They already have over 4 million customers around the world. I guess with me they are one person closer to 5 Million.

Well if GQ likes it maybe I can get my Girlfriend to try it too, she’s a reader and definitely buys into the gentleman’s quarterly, actually more than I do. She got me the subscription last Christmas and I bet it’s going to be renewed this year.