4 ms·

Packaging is exactly my main issue with these as well (HelloFresh has been our favorite too). I go to the local farmers' market every weekend and could go to an

by mdesq 9y ago

Packaging is exactly my main issue with these as well (HelloFresh has been our favorite too). I go to the local farmers' market every weekend and could go to another nearby one more frequently; I wish someone would coordinate the recipes, instructions, and quantities from local ingredients. I'd happily pay extra to just pick up the raw ingredients collected together with some instruction sheets on what to make when.

fernly 9y ago
They could cut some of the packaging by requiring the user to have a wider range of stock items. They could send you an email on Saturday saying, "to prepare your menu selection arriving Tuesday, you will need: Soy Sauce, White Wine Vinegar,..." If you have 'em, fine, if not, you have a couple of days to stock up. That would eliminate the fairy's bottles of vinegar etc. (and lower costs?). But there's no way around the insulation and frozen gel-packs, and I think they should close the loop on those and take them back. Just say, throw the gel-packs in the box with all the plastic containers, slap this label on the outside, and UPS will take the box away when they drop off next week's food.
- karlshea 9y ago
  > I think they should close the loop on those and take them back. Just say, throw the gel-packs in the box with all the plastic containers, slap this label on the outside, and UPS will take the box away when they drop off next week's food. They do: http://origin-blog.blueapron.com/recycling-faq/ http://origin-blog.blueapron.com/recycling-faq/ You collect a couple of shipments worth of packaging, stuff it in a box, and print out a label for it from your account.
  - rspeer 9y ago
    I don't know about you, but to me, packing, label-printing, taping, and shipping a box of trash a couple of times a week, sounds like a less enjoyable chore than going grocery shopping.
  - fernly 9y ago
    I did not know this while I was a blue apron user. Thank you.
- teekert 9y ago
  "to prepare your menu selection arriving Tuesday, you will need: Soy Sauce, White Wine Vinegar,..." If you have 'em, fine, if not, you have a couple of days to stock up. That would eliminate the fairy's bottles of vinegar etc. (and lower costs?)." That sounds like a really good idea. We also tried Hello Fresh, but indeed, many things we already owned in bigger bottles. Combine it with a lower price indeed and I wonder what it will mean for sales. By the way, our local supermarkets are also starting to make these packages of "everything you need for one meal for 2 or 4". You can also have them delivered. In general though they are much more expensive then taking the products from the shelves, but that is to be expected. Robotozation of large stores combined with self-picking up of crates of supplies can fix that too (we have that at some stores, minus the robots). Meanwhile here (in the Netherlands), you see more and more small electric vehicles delivering groceries around the city and picking up and bringing back elderly that want to shop. Things are really changing.
- throwaway9475 9y ago
  I'm confused. How is this different from just following a recipe and going to the grocery store?
  - teh_klev 9y ago
    Well, there's probably a bunch of ingredients most folks will have in their larder/pantry cupboard e.g. salt, pepper, vinegar, one or two jars of spices (say, chilli, paprika), stock cubes... the sort of thing you can easily pick up from a regular supermarket or your local 7-11. The more "exotic" ingredients would come with the box. For example, I'm kinda rural, so fresh herbs such as coriander and parsley aren't easy to come by. Fernly is suggesting that company's like Blue Apron should recommend always stocking certain long life standard ingredients that are commonly used in their recipes. They could perhaps even have this as an option on your account so that you get a bit of a discount for agreeing to hold these ingredients rather than having them sent out in tiny amounts in wasteful packaging.
burkemw3 9y ago
You can access all the Blue Apron recipes without a subscription: https://www.blueapron.com/cookbook/all/all/Next%20Week https://www.blueapron.com/cookbook/all/all/Next%20Week We still use these, and buy ingredients ourselves. I don't usually do the farmer's market shopping, but I do find some of their recipes respecting the season.
antoniuschan99 9y ago
I'm using HelloFresh as well too. Overall, very happy with the service :). As for the packaging gel thing. With HelloFresh you're supposed to keep them and wait a few weeks for it to fill up a box then let them know and they will come and pick it up.
curun1r 9y ago
> I wish someone would coordinate the recipes, instructions, and quantities from local ingredients You might look into joining a CSA. I bought a 4-box trial for my parents as a gift and they were pretty happy with it. It's all local and comes packed in a single cardboard box with no plastic...about as ecological as you can get. The friend that recommended it to me claimed there was a forum site where people traded recipe ideas for how to use the items in the box. My parents decided not to renew, but for a rather comical reason. They got in the habit of reusing the plastic bags they buy vegetables in to pick up after their dog. They realized if they continued to get their vegetables from the CSA, they'd have to figure out a different strategy for picking up poop.
cardamomo 9y ago
Some farmer's markets provide seasonal recipes based on what's at the market that week. For example, GrowNYC, the organization that runs Greenmarkets in NYC, often has its own stand at markets that has information, recipes, and even samples for customers. If this is a service you want from your farmer's market, talk to the organizers—I'm sure they'll be receptive.

by mdesq 9y ago

fernly 9y ago

They could cut some of the packaging by requiring the user to have a wider range of stock items. They could send you an email on Saturday saying, "to prepare your menu selection arriving Tuesday, you will need: Soy Sauce, White Wine Vinegar,..." If you have 'em, fine, if not, you have a couple of days to stock up. That would eliminate the fairy's bottles of vinegar etc. (and lower costs?). But there's no way around the insulation and frozen gel-packs, and I think they should close the loop on those and take them back. Just say, throw the gel-packs in the box with all the plastic containers, slap this label on the outside, and UPS will take the box away when they drop off next week's food.

karlshea 9y ago
> I think they should close the loop on those and take them back. Just say, throw the gel-packs in the box with all the plastic containers, slap this label on the outside, and UPS will take the box away when they drop off next week's food. They do: http://origin-blog.blueapron.com/recycling-faq/ http://origin-blog.blueapron.com/recycling-faq/ You collect a couple of shipments worth of packaging, stuff it in a box, and print out a label for it from your account.
- rspeer 9y ago
  I don't know about you, but to me, packing, label-printing, taping, and shipping a box of trash a couple of times a week, sounds like a less enjoyable chore than going grocery shopping.
- fernly 9y ago
  I did not know this while I was a blue apron user. Thank you.
teekert 9y ago
"to prepare your menu selection arriving Tuesday, you will need: Soy Sauce, White Wine Vinegar,..." If you have 'em, fine, if not, you have a couple of days to stock up. That would eliminate the fairy's bottles of vinegar etc. (and lower costs?)." That sounds like a really good idea. We also tried Hello Fresh, but indeed, many things we already owned in bigger bottles. Combine it with a lower price indeed and I wonder what it will mean for sales. By the way, our local supermarkets are also starting to make these packages of "everything you need for one meal for 2 or 4". You can also have them delivered. In general though they are much more expensive then taking the products from the shelves, but that is to be expected. Robotozation of large stores combined with self-picking up of crates of supplies can fix that too (we have that at some stores, minus the robots). Meanwhile here (in the Netherlands), you see more and more small electric vehicles delivering groceries around the city and picking up and bringing back elderly that want to shop. Things are really changing.
throwaway9475 9y ago
I'm confused. How is this different from just following a recipe and going to the grocery store?
- teh_klev 9y ago
  Well, there's probably a bunch of ingredients most folks will have in their larder/pantry cupboard e.g. salt, pepper, vinegar, one or two jars of spices (say, chilli, paprika), stock cubes... the sort of thing you can easily pick up from a regular supermarket or your local 7-11. The more "exotic" ingredients would come with the box. For example, I'm kinda rural, so fresh herbs such as coriander and parsley aren't easy to come by. Fernly is suggesting that company's like Blue Apron should recommend always stocking certain long life standard ingredients that are commonly used in their recipes. They could perhaps even have this as an option on your account so that you get a bit of a discount for agreeing to hold these ingredients rather than having them sent out in tiny amounts in wasteful packaging.

burkemw3 9y ago

You can access all the Blue Apron recipes without a subscription: https://www.blueapron.com/cookbook/all/all/Next%20Week https://www.blueapron.com/cookbook/all/all/Next%20Week We still use these, and buy ingredients ourselves. I don't usually do the farmer's market shopping, but I do find some of their recipes respecting the season.

antoniuschan99 9y ago

I'm using HelloFresh as well too. Overall, very happy with the service :). As for the packaging gel thing. With HelloFresh you're supposed to keep them and wait a few weeks for it to fill up a box then let them know and they will come and pick it up.

curun1r 9y ago

> I wish someone would coordinate the recipes, instructions, and quantities from local ingredients You might look into joining a CSA. I bought a 4-box trial for my parents as a gift and they were pretty happy with it. It's all local and comes packed in a single cardboard box with no plastic...about as ecological as you can get. The friend that recommended it to me claimed there was a forum site where people traded recipe ideas for how to use the items in the box. My parents decided not to renew, but for a rather comical reason. They got in the habit of reusing the plastic bags they buy vegetables in to pick up after their dog. They realized if they continued to get their vegetables from the CSA, they'd have to figure out a different strategy for picking up poop.

cardamomo 9y ago

Some farmer's markets provide seasonal recipes based on what's at the market that week. For example, GrowNYC, the organization that runs Greenmarkets in NYC, often has its own stand at markets that has information, recipes, and even samples for customers. If this is a service you want from your farmer's market, talk to the organizers—I'm sure they'll be receptive.