My problem with blue apron is with all the waste/trash generated by their packaging. I tried their services and the recipes were ok — although for someone that likes to cook or is a more experienced cook, their service is not worth it.
My wife's comment was "I can get all these ingredients at the local super market and there is a lot of prep work". If Blue apron or a like service had all the food ready to go into the oven/microwave we would of stuck with it. Since she still had to do all the chopping and prepping, it was a waste of time.
I found this case study video to be a good summary of what went wrong with Blue Apron:<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpQkAEei08w" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpQkAEei08w</a>
Blue Apron has multiple problems. 1. Once they teach you cooking isn't hard you will do it on your own. 2. Most grocery stores of all levels have meal kits now. 3. If you buy a mandolin(knife skills are for tv shows and culinary school) and safety glove you can go from raw not chopped ingredients to plated hot meal in under 20 minutes..
I forgot where I read this, but Blue Apron spends a <i>ton</i> on customer acquisition, though non-traditional media channels.<p>I listen to several podcasts (Bill Burr and Joe Rogan represent) and every single episode they got an ad plugging Blue Apron - except they recently yanked their spots on Burr's podcast because he joked around too much.<p>They're probably banking on LTV of their customers, but it just doesn't make sense when a lot of your customers cancel after 6 months and it costs 400 dollars in marketing expenses to acquire each one.<p>I just don't see a sustainable business model. The food industry is remarkably cutthroat, and the margins are already razor thin, even for a restaurant.
With Kroger clicklist, instacart, amazon fresh, etc. I don't see the need for this. I need more companies that auto order from kroger click list my recipe selections.<p>I also really like freshly that delivers fresh, ready to heat blue arpon quality meals (high end tv dinners, but never frozen)