In This Article
In This Article
Huel and Ka'Chava both make excellent meals. You can eat them whenever you need a quick and satisfying meal but don’t have time to prepare food.
If you want to lose weight, you can also eat them instead of meals since they’re full of nutrients but have fewer calories than the average meal.
This is why they’re called meal replacements—they’re designed to replace your meals.
So which of the two top meal replacement brands is better? To answer this question, we compared Ka'Chava vs. Huel based on eight criteria:
Our in-depth reviews focus on providing readers with accurate and reliable information on products and services, so you can make informed decisions about your personal health and wellness.
Huel is based both in the US (New York City, NY) and the UK (Tring, Hertfordshire) and touts itself as a company that offers “nutritionally-complete” foods.
Huel says its products are not meal replacements, which under EU guidelines, are designed to help you lose weight.1,2 But you can eat them as meals or snacks.
It was founded in 2014 by Julian Hearn, an entrepreneur who wanted to create food that was affordable, nutritious, and convenient (you know, like Soylent).
With the help of a registered nutritionist, dietitian, and Huel co-founder, James Collier BSc (Hons), they were able to develop its unique formula.
Ka'Chava is based in the US (Henderson, NV) and offers a “daily superblend” containing superfoods, a variety of nutrients, and other healthy ingredients.
Like Huel and Soylent, you can use Ka'Chava to replace your meals. But you can also take it as a daily supplement together with other foods.
It was founded in 2014 by Simone Malone, who says that Ka'Chava was inspired by his quest for a healthier lifestyle after leaving the corporate world.
There’s not much information on how Ka'Chava developed its formula.
All we know is they decided to combine superfoods and nutrients we tend to lack and sourced them from natural plant-based ingredients.
Having different products to choose from is an important factor to consider. You want to have options that are convenient and fit with your lifestyle.
Huel offers powdered drinks and meals, snack bars, and ready-to-drink shakes. This allows you to pick a format that matches your needs.
Its current line-up includes ten products:
One thing to remember is that Huel’s products are available in different variants for US and UK markets.
Each variant is formulated to meet their region’s nutritional guidelines.3 You can determine the variant by the version number that comes after the product name:
Huel also continues to update its formula and add new products (like Daily Greens) in order to meet changing nutritional demands.
Ka'Chava has powdered drinks and meal bars, so it doesn’t offer as much variety as Huel. Your options include:
Its meal replacement bars are your only option if you’re on the go.
Choosing the right flavor that suits your palate can be tricky. So you want to have as many options as possible. The more flavors there are, the better.
Most Huel products have three to nine flavor options each, giving you plenty to choose from. We counted a total of twenty-eight unique flavors, including:
Huel uses natural ingredients and artificial sweeteners (sucralose) to enhance most of its sweet-flavored options.4 Here are the available flavors:
| Flavors | Huel Powder | Huel Black Edition | Huel Bars | Huel Ready-to-Drink | Huel Complete Protein | Huel Complete Protein Bars | Huel Essential |
| Banana | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| Banana Pudding | ✔ | ✔ | |||||
| Berry | ✔ | ✔ | |||||
| Caffè Latte | ✔ | ||||||
| Chocolate | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||
| Chocolate Fudge Brownie | ✔ | ||||||
| Chocolate Orange | ✔ | ||||||
| Cinnamon Roll | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| Coffee Caramel | ✔ | ✔ (iced) | |||||
| Cookies & Cream | ✔ | ||||||
| Peanut Butter | ✔ | ✔ | |||||
| Raspberry & White Chocolate | ✔ | ||||||
| Salted Caramel | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||
| Strawberry Shortcake | ✔ | ✔ | |||||
| Vanilla Caramel | ✔ | ||||||
| Vanilla | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
The company used to offer eight Flavor Boosters, which you could mix into your Huel drink for added flavor. But it’s no longer available in the US or the UK.
Huel uses real herbs and spices like black pepper, tomato powder, and dried thyme to help create its savory flavors.5 Here are your options:
The Huel Powder and Huel Black come in original and unflavored options. These “flavors” allow you to personalize them to your liking. For instance, you can:
Some foods that you can make with the original and unflavored Huel powders are muffins, pancakes, cookies, and smoothies.
The Ka'Chava shake has five flavors, while its meal bar only has two flavor options. Combined, the company offers six unique flavors:
What’s great about Ka'Chava is it only uses natural and organic ingredients like green tea, monk fruit extract, moringa, and vanilla to flavor its products.6
People have different preferences when it comes to taste and texture. Like any food, meal replacements should be pleasant to eat.
Satiety is also an important factor to consider when you’re replacing meals for weight loss. A meal replacement has to:
We’ve tried Huel shakes, and they have this thick and grainy texture which we didn’t mind. However, many customers have complained about it.
Users who have tried the original Huel Powder also complained of its artificial flavor and weird aftertaste that’s hard to cover up.
Other Huel products have mixed reviews of either being too sweet (like vanilla) or having just the right sweetness (chocolate flavor).
The thickness of Huel drinks makes up for the grittiness. It can make you feel full for longer periods and prevent you from eating more.
A plant-based meal replacement tends to be chalky and overpowering, but not Ka'Chava. We’ve tried it, too, and it’s pleasantly creamy and mild-tasting.
Ka'Chava drinks have the right amount of sweetness. The earthy flavors we expected from some of their ingredients were also barely noticeable.
It doesn’t have an unusual aftertaste, and many people who have tried Ka'Chava are equally happy with the way that it tastes and feels in the mouth.
However, other users who have tried Ka'Chava say it’s too bland and that you need to mix it into other foods to improve its taste and texture.
Like Huel, Ka'Chava is satiating and can keep you full until the next meal.
A meal replacement should be the equivalent of a well-balanced meal. It needs to have enough macronutrients, fibers, vitamins, and minerals to replace meals.
Meal replacements must have all three macronutrients: proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. These macros are usually split differently, and you get to choose products that are more suited to your diet.
We compared how Huel and Ka'Chava distribute their macros.
| Macronutrient | Huel Powder | Huel Black Edition | Huel Bars | Huel Ready-to-Drink | Huel Complete Protein | Huel Complete Protein Bars | Huel Essential |
| Carbohydrates | 37% | 17% | 36% | 35% | 11% | 5% | 50% |
| Proteins | 30% | 40% | 24% | 20% | 76% | 40% | 20% |
| Fats | 30% | 40% | 35% | 42% | 10% | 30% | 20% |
As seen in the table above, Huel seems to have four macronutrient profiles:
| Macronutrient | Ka'Chava Shakes | Ka'Chava Bars |
| Carbohydrates | 8% to 9% | 6% to 7% |
| Proteins | 77% | 38% to 44% |
| Fats | 9% to 10% | 17% to 18% |
Ka'Chava only has low-carb and high-protein meal replacements.
Essential nutrients like vitamins and minerals are also important to maintaining your overall health. When replacing meals with alternative food products, it’s important that you continue to get these nutrients.
We compared all the nutrients in Huel Powder and Ka'Chava shakes, including the number of nutrients (daily values or DV%) they provide per serving.
| Huel Powder | Ka'Chava Shake | |
| Vitamin A | 20% | 83% |
| Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) | 17% | 63% |
| Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) | 23% | 65% |
| Vitamin B3 (Niacin) | 21% | 63% |
| Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic Acid) | 25% | 100% |
| Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine) | 24% | 59% |
| Vitamin B7 (Biotin) | 33% | 250% |
| Vitamin B9 (Folate, DFE) | 21% | 83% |
| Vitamin B12 (Cobalamin) | 33% | 125% |
| Vitamin C | 68% | 33% |
| Vitamin D (Total) | 20% | 24% |
| Vitamin E | 21% | 67% |
| Vitamin K (Total) | 30% | None |
| Calcium | 20% | 46% |
| Chloride | 20% | 13% |
| Choline | 22% | None |
| Chromium | 23% | 100% |
| Copper | 33% | 90% |
| Iodine | 20% | 50% |
| Iron | 45% | 30% |
| Magnesium | 21% | 60% |
| Molybdenum | 67% | 200% |
| Manganese | 57% | 39% |
| Potassium | 20% | 6% |
| Phosphorus | 30% | 40% |
| Selenium | 36% | 64% |
| Sodium | None | 17% |
| Zinc | 34% | 68% |
Huel contains more vitamins and minerals than Ka'Chava. It even has vitamin K, a nutrient that supports bone health and wound healing.
Ka'Chava doesn’t have vitamin K, but most of its nutrients have high amounts per serving. This makes it more nutrient-dense than Huel.
Getting more nutrients isn’t always better, though. Food products containing too much of certain vitamins (like vitamins A and E) may cause health problems.
Fiber is also important to a healthy diet. While we need sugar for energy, we have to be mindful of how much we eat every day.
Adults need at least 25 to 30 grams of dietary fiber per day.7 However, experts recommend eating no more than 24 grams of added sugar daily.8
We compared the number of fibers and sugars in Huel Powder and Ka'Chava shakes, including how much they provide to your daily values (%).
| Huel Powder | Ka'Chava Shake | |
| Fiber | 25% | 21% |
| Total sugars | 1.0 g | 6 g |
| Includes added sugars | 1% | 10% |
Between the two, Huel fares slightly better in this department as it contains more fiber and less sugar per serving of food.
Knowing where a product gets its ingredients will help you determine the kind of nutrition it offers. From here, you can choose an option that you like.
Ka'Chava and Huel are completely plant-based and get their proteins from plants. They’re both vegan-friendly and don’t contain any animal products.
Huel’s plant-protein blend consists of five ingredients, including:
Meanwhile, Ka'Chava extracts its plant-based protein from five ingredients:
Both meal replacement brands have all the essential amino acids since their proteins are sourced from plant seeds that naturally contain them.
Meal replacements sometimes get their nutrients from superfoods. These are nutrient-dense foods that are packed with nutrients but contain little calories.
Superfoods can reduce your stress and decrease your risk for various conditions, among other health benefits.9,10 Some examples are blueberries and chia seeds.
Huel’s meal replacement powders don’t have any superfoods. If you want them in your diet, you can try the new Huel Daily Greens, which has 91 superfoods.
Daily Greens isn’t a meal replacement powder, but you can use it with other Huel products to boost your health.
With Ka'Chava, you’ll get a more complete nutrition profile with just their shake.
Its meal replacement shakes have over 85 superfoods and enough calories, macros, and nutrients to replace your meals.
Some people prefer ingredients that are organic, natural, and don’t contain any genetically-modified organisms (GMOs).
We compared the ingredient quality of Ka'Chava and Huel based on these criteria and here’s what we found:
| Huel Powder | Ka'Chava Shake | |
| Organic | No | Yes |
| Lactose-free | Yes | Yes |
| Soy-free | Yes | Yes |
| Gluten-free | Options available | Yes |
| Nut-free | No | No |
| GMO-free | Yes | Yes |
| Natural flavors | Yes | Yes |
| Artificial sweeteners | Yes | No |
Most (but not all) Ka'Chava ingredients are either certified organic or come from organically-grown plants.11
Huel isn’t organic, and most of its products contain sucralose, an artificial sweetener.5,12 But it does use real herbs and spices for its Hot and Savory Meals.
Probiotics are great for your digestion and overall health. Digestive enzymes help you digest different types of food, so you can get the most nutrients out of them.
Many meal replacement products don’t have these ingredients. But Huel and Ka'Chava include a few in their formula for added health benefits.
Most of Huel’s meal replacement powders contain Bacillus coagulans and/or kombucha.
You can find these ingredients in Huel Powder, Huel Black Edition, and Huel Complete Protein Powder—but not in the Huel Essential Formula.
B. coagulans is a probiotic or a type of good gut bacteria that can boost your immune system and possibly protect you against illness.13,14
Kombucha is a type of fermented food that contains yeasts and other beneficial bacteria. Studies show it has anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative effects.15
Other potential health benefits of kombucha are:15
Ka'Chava’s meal replacement shake contains a blend of probiotics, prebiotics, and digestive enzymes. Here’s a closer look at them:
Meal replacement costs can add up when you’re replacing several meals in a day. You should pick a product that fits your budget and is worth what you pay for.
You can buy Huel’s products with a one-time payment or with a subscription to get 20 percent off. The company includes free shipping with your orders.
However, you have to purchase at least two of each product for checkout.
| Huel Powder | Huel Black Edition | Huel Bars | Huel Ready-to-Drink | Huel Complete Protein | Huel Complete Protein Bars | Huel Essential | |
| One-time payment | $94 | $106 | $79 | $120 | $81 | $94 | $84 |
| Subscription cost | $75 | $85 | $63 | $96 | $65 | $75 | $67 |
| Inclusions | Two bags | Two bags | Two boxes | Two boxes | Two tubs | Two boxes | Two bags |
| Total servings | 34 meals | 34 meals | 30 bars | 24 bottles | 52 portions | 24 bars | 45 meals |
Ka'Chava products are available with a one-time payment or with a subscription that slashes 12 to 14 percent off the original price.
You don’t have to buy them in bulk, unlike Huel. But you need to purchase at least two bags to get free shipping with your orders.
| Ka'Chava Shakes | Ka'Chava Bars | |
| One-time payment | $69.95 | $39.95 |
| Subscription cost | $59.95 | $34.95 |
| Inclusions | One bag | One box |
| Total servings | 15 meals | 12 bars |
If we compare the cost per meal, Huel’s meal replacement powders are more affordable than Ka'Chava, which almost costs as much as Huel’s RTD.
Even if you subscribe, you don’t get to save as much with Ka'Chava.
| Cost per meal | Huel Powder | Ka'Chava Powder |
| One-time payment | $1.80 to $3.12 | $4.66 |
| Subscription | $1.50 to $2.50 | $4 |
To help you decide, we reviewed hundreds of positive and negative feedback and testimonials from customers who have tried Huel and Ka'Chava.
Here’s a summary of what people are saying about them:
We picked our favorite product for each category we reviewed:
When it comes to variety of flavors, Huel is the best choice. There are dessert flavors as well as spicy and herby flavors, so you’re never out of options.
If you don’t like artificial sweeteners, you can always go flavorless with Huel. Its unflavored products can be personalized and used to create tastier foods.
But if you prefer mild and naturally-sweetened flavors, you can opt for Ka'Chava.
Ka'Chava and Huel are both excellent meal replacement options to satisfy your appetite, thanks to their thick and heavy consistency.
But in terms of nutrition, we like Huel more because you get to pick a food with a macro distribution that works best for your diet.
Plus, it has a low-sugar formula and the right balance of essential vitamins, minerals, and fibers to replace your meals.
Ka'Chava doesn’t give you much flexibility when it comes to your nutrition.
Although Ka'Chava may work for people who follow low-carb and high-protein diets or are simply looking to supplement their diet with nutrients.
Ka'Chava is our top choice because it uses high-quality and plant-based superfoods that are natural and mostly organic.
This vegan meal replacement also contains a blend of probiotics, prebiotics, and digestive enzymes to improve your digestion and overall health.
While Huel is vegan and has better quality than other meal replacement powders, it uses artificial sweeteners and processed ingredients.
Huel also lacks superfoods and only has kombucha and a single-strain probiotic for added health benefits.
Huel is the more budget-friendly option between the two.
But Ka'Chava also offers great value for your money if you consider its nutrition and the quality of its ingredients.
Huel is the best meal replacement if you want to substitute meals with nutritious and easy-to-prepare foods that contain fewer calories.
It has plenty of products and flavor options. You can choose one based on your convenience, taste preferences, nutritional needs, and health goals.
Given its variety and affordable cost per meal, you can switch products anytime. You’ll never feel bored or guilty about breaking the bank with Huel.
That said, if you don’t mind paying a little more per meal, Ka'Chava comes out on top as the healthier and more nutritious option.
