Hello. Long-time Huel drinker/advocate here. My family and friends call me a Huel salesman because I don’t stop recommending it to people. I’ve had Huel 1-2 times per day, every day, for the past 4 years. For the first time in that period, I’m disappointed.
Today I made my morning blend and the texture was terrible. Instead of the drink going down smoothly (you know, like a liquid), it was like jello – all jiggly and getting stuck in my cup so I had to end up using a spoon. I kept blending over and over, and I couldn’t get the texture to not be like jello. I ended up throwing away the drink.
I thought I got a bad batch, so decided to check the back of the new bag I just opened. Looks like there’s a new formula out (v3.1)? First time I’ve had it. Lots of ingredient changes.
I’m the kind of person that never posts negative reviews, asks for refunds, etc. but this seems unacceptable to me. I’ve been paying for a consistent product and then all of a sudden, it’s switched out and I don’t remember receiving any notification that I was getting a different product from before.
So I’m not sure what to do here. If it’s possible to keep ordering v3.0, I’ll do that. But if my only option is v3.1, this might be the end of Huel for me, sadly.
EDIT: I stand corrected, I just checked and the Huel team did send out an email about the change. That’s good. My feedback is just about the texture/consistency then. I understand that with any change, you’re going to disappoint some part of your customer base, but v3.0 → v3.1 is something else. I can handle differences in taste, nutrition, etc. but this latest one fundamentally changes the product from a liquid/drink to a pudding/jello for me. That’s too different.
I love that your advocacy borders on annoyance to your friends and family- I do the exact same thing!!! because honestly Huel just makes so much sense for me and checks off so many boxes; I would say my “killer” features are #1 being nutritionally complete, and quite truly of equal importance #2 the ease of preparation- I especially appreciate the horizontal shaker blades since they’re easier to clean than the crosshatch design. And #3, I would also like to add that I specifically chose Huel because it avoids reliance upon soy protein.
But I digress- to your point, I’ve had Black Edition v1.1 in U/U, Vanilla, and Chocolate, and Original v3.1 in U/U, Original, Vanilla, and Chocolate. I wanted to try Original after BE because BE can just be so substantial- which is good, and exactly what I paid for, but I sought a lighter formula with Original. I particularly noticed that BE was digesting very quickly and regularly requiring me to drop the kids off at the pool consistently only 1-2 hours after consumption. It isn’t unpleasant, just frequent, and consistent enough that I have grown to expect it.
Original v3.1, compared to BE v1.1, seems to digest just as quickly, but not as… forcibly. I don’t feel the need to… void as urgently, and can continue my workday for the next 5-6 hours without interruption.
Have you identified changes that might explain your experience? Maybe the switch to gluten-free oats?
Edit: I’ve also had BE v3.1 in Strawberry Shortcake and Salted Caramel.
I’m not liking it either. The texture of v3.1 is more goopy than smooth.
But more importantly to me, v3.1 irritates my bowels. I had no problems with v3.0. I had to dump Soylent due to bowel irritation. Now I may have to dump Huel as well.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I’ve only had two drinks of v3.1 so far (and I doubt there will be a third because it’s so bad), so not enough to note any changes in digestion yet.
I think you’re right – it might be the switch to gluten-free oats. But I’m not well-versed in food science, so I’m not sure. I noticed the powder also clumps in the bag with v3.1, whereas with v3.0 it was always smooth.
Exactly! I tried making a second drink this morning, still no luck.
I used to blend v3.0 for 15 seconds and it was great.
Now, even when I blend v3.1 for over a minute, it’s still terrible. There’s “water streaks” visible in the goop, it jiggles, and it takes a while to slither out of the cup.
To the Huel team, PLEASE provide customers a way to go back to the old formula, or seriously consider the feedback here for v3.2. Right now I’m sitting on almost $300 worth of Huel I can’t use. Hopefully this gets addressed. Until then, I’ve cancelled my subscription.
I only started Huel a few months ago and thought it was great. Kind of had a grainy texture, but it wasn’t really unpleasant. My coffee flavor got discontinued and automatically switched to the caramel coffee, which is v3.1, and I really hate it. Having it be a different flavor is fine, but I have to think that the texture changes are due to the new formula, and it’s terrible. It has a more snotty texture almost, and it also clumps up more than the old formula. You can even see the difference in texture in the bag, where the powder seems to stick together more than the old one did. Really not a fan and definitely going to just stop with Huel if the old formula isn’t available. The new texture is just too unappealing.
Hello all! Thank you so much for passing along your feedback on our new Huel Powder v3.1. I will pass it along to our product team so they can keep it in mind moving forward. We always appreciate any feedback you’d like to share with us positive or negative and changes we make to existing products are based on such feedback so keep it coming, you don’t know what we might decide to do in the future!
All that said, if you feel there is an issue with the product or batch you have received or would like to chat with our customer experience team further about your specific order to see if they can assist in any way please send us an email at support@huel.com with your order numbers so they can help.
I initially didn’t like the texture of v3.1 either very much but I did get used to it after having it a few times. Out of curiosity what flavor did you get v3.1 of? Wondering if the texture is slightly different with flavors, I got Mint Chocolate and I’d describe it as kinda slimy (almost like snot). Clumping in the bottom of the cup seems to happen about as often as it did with v3.0.
Having said that I still like the texture of v3.0 more. I just don’t hate v3.1
Yes! Snotty is a good way to describe it. The words we’re using to describe it are consistent – goopy, snotty, slimy, jiggly. It’s very unpleasant. I’m not sure how v3.1 passed the company’s testing with respect to texture.
I recently received a shipment of the new v3.1 and just wanted to provide my experience so far. The flavors I received are Cinnamon Roll and Salted Caramel. I think some of the commenters here may have received a bad batch or maybe some of the flavors are different because this has not been my experience at all. For me the consistency does seem to be smoother, possibly a little thicker, but I have had zero clumps which there were always clumps with v3.0. Flavor seems to be on par with previous version but I do get a hint of a red fruit/berry flavor from the cinnamon roll which was kind of odd.
I’ve seen a couple comments on this thread as well suggesting that the gluten-free oats may be why the consistency is off for some but from my understanding oats are naturally gluten-free. To be listed as gluten-free though they have to be processed in a facility that does not process any gluten containing products to eliminate potential cross contamination for lack of a better term.
Here to echo this. I just opened a new bag of vanilla and was instantly put off by the taste and thought something was wrong with it. Compared the old bag with the new bag and found out the ingredients changed and we’re on version 3.1. Almost has a chemical taste instead of a pleasant oat taste. Quite disappointed.
Welcome to the US Forum @Blummo - so sorry to hear you’re not enjoying your Huel Powder v3.1 If there is specific feedback you’d like to pass along to our product team feel free to email our customer experience team at support@huel.com so we can properly log it with your order info.
because honestly Huel just makes so much sense for me and checks off so many boxes; I would say my “killer” features are 
