Last week when the email went out that Chocolate RTD was back in stock from a new factory, it said:
To be sure that you guys love it we have conducted extensive pilot trials and taste tests on all flavors. The results? Most people that blind tasted them actually preferred the taste over the original Ready-to-drink that you knew and loved. The rest? They couldn’t even spot the difference!
The people that couldn’t spot the difference should never be allowed on taste tests again. The people that preferred it… well, I’m not one of them.
It’s not bad per se, but I definitely prefer the old version. Can’t quite put my finger on it yet, but to me it seems like chocolate is not the dominant flavor any more and the taste of other ingredients is more prominent.
It’s a shame because I was looking forward to getting back to Huel after substituting with Soylent while RTD was having stock issues. I’ve always preferred Soylent’s RTD chocolate flavor (even if it is a bit fake, like chocolate ice cream rather than actual chocolate), but I was won over by the the thicker texture of Huel. Maybe I will get used to the flavor change by the time I get through my current box but there’s a good chance I won’t be ordering it again.
I can’t say I am surprised that it is worse. That is sad because I legitimately liked the old flavor. I am sure we will also be sad when the berry flavor is also worse.
I immediately recognized the marketing speak in that email. I am sure there are some new cost effective changes in the new one.
Mine is coming soon so I’ll add my thoughts soon as well.
Ok, I got my new Chocolate Huel and tried it today. Firstly, I noticed that we now have the proper USA nutritional label, which is nice for us in the US. As another person posted, the boxing is new as well. It is sturdier. I had no issues opening it, but I suppose it would be nicer if there was a tab or something to make it a bit easier.
On my first sip, I noticed a different taste. It was the taste of the powdered huel black chocolate. I’m not quite sure exactly what that taste is, but I don’t really like it. However, I completely stopped noticing it on subsequent sips. I did shake it properly, so maybe it was just the initial taste of a new thing.
Anyway, I pretty much agree with the OP that there is less flavor in the newer one. It is subtle, but still noticeable. For me, it is not an issue and I will continue to buy it. I still like the RTD way better than the powder and you can’t beat the convenience.
One note to the OP: I also tried some Soylent between Huel orders. Soylent is noticeably sweeter than Huel, so perhaps we are judging more compared to that than the original chocolate huel.
I agree, Soylent RTD is sweeter. The odd thing is that I stopped drinking vanilla Huel RTD because I didn’t like the sweetness, but I haven’t had the same problem with Soylent.
One other piece of feedback is that I think it is a little misleading that the ‘new’ RTD is still labelled as “v1.0” on the bottle. I know Huel uses the version numbers to denote significant changes to ingredient & nutrient makeup, but from a consumer perspective you would expect two bottles with the same ‘version’ of a product to actually be the same.
Is there an aftertaste in the RTD? I just ordered a 12-pack to try but I’ve heard mixed reviews. My biggest fear is that they contain stevia, which I can’t stand due to the aftertaste.
@boles mentioned in another post that he didn’t like the aftertaste of the old vanilla RTD, but that it’s gone in the new version, so you may be in luck there.
Just wanted to post an update on this: I have in fact gotten used to the new chocolate flavor over the last month. I definitely still prefer the old version (I found a couple of older bottles hiding in the pantry recently) but the new one is fine now I’ve adjusted to it.
