12 ms·

There is a lot of hate for this company on HN. They are trying to help people cook healthy food, they are doing a good thing, and have an actual product. Good f

There is a lot of hate for this company on HN. They are trying to help people cook healthy food, they are doing a good thing, and have an actual product. Good for them! And I hope the engineers / common workers get some money too :)

paulcole 9y ago
>They are trying to help people cook healthy food, they are doing a good thing I don't think the idea that they're "doing a good thing" is so cut and dry. Aren't they producing an astounding amount of waste? And aren't the working conditions uncomfortable at best? https://www.buzzfeed.com/carolineodonovan/the-not-so-wholesome-reality-behind-the-making-of-your-meal https://www.buzzfeed.com/carolineodonovan/the-not-so-wholeso...
- seibelj 9y ago
  I think going into a dirty sewer is uncomfortable, but there are sewer inspectors, and paving a hot road in the summer is uncomfortable, but there are road pavers.
  - paulcole 9y ago
    uh ok? And I think sewers and roads are slightly more essential than tiny packaged bags of basil shipped to my house.
    - seibelj 9y ago
      whoosh
    - subroutine 9y ago
      Things must be shipped in packages. Are you against all products delivered by mail, or just the ones you could get locally at a store?
- groby_b 9y ago
  Let's not forget the astonishing amount of dark patterns in their UI. Cancelling your Blue Apron account is... quite the experience. (Not to mention their food model seems to be "30% is crap we need to get rid of, and you will buy it")
  - KWD 9y ago
    I actually don't recall any negative experience when I cancelled my account. It might be because I'd already opted out the future deliveries, but closed the account with no issues.
    - moonka 9y ago
      I did it recently. You have to email them, at which point they send you a link. At that point it's pretty straight forward.
- nilkn 9y ago
  I've subscribed to Blue Apron before and, regarding waste, it doesn't seem much different from going to the grocery store. Meat ingredients like chicken breast, salmon, and beef are individually wrapped exactly like they are in the store. Blue Apron doesn't wrap all their produce (but they do wrap some of it); most people I know use a lot of plastic bags for produce when going to the grocery, so that's a small difference in favor of Blue Apron. The cardboard box it comes in is of course recyclable. Miscellaneous knick knacks for the recipes come in small recyclable paper bags which certainly are made of less material than large grocery store bags. The only other things I can think of are very small plastic containers for fluids like soy sauce and the ice packs. Overall I wouldn't be surprised if Blue Apron is slightly more wasteful than going to the store, but it's a small difference at best, at least as far as basic packaging goes.
  - koolba 9y ago
    Aren't the meats shipped with dry ice / styrofoam?
    - nilkn 9y ago
      I don't remember receiving any dry ice or styrofoam. The ice pack is recyclable. You just have to let it melt and empty out the water. There's a foil liner which is also recyclable. If there's no recycling option near you, you can even send the recyclable materials back to Blue Apron and they'll recycle it.
      - eropple 9y ago
        Do you think that people who are so theoretically time-strapped as to be using Blue Apron are likely to invest the time to recycle?
        nilkn 9y ago
        I can only speak for myself, but I did recycle whatever I could from the leftover materials when I was subscribed. My apartment complex made it very easy to do so. Either way, needing to recycle is not unique to Blue Apron at all. You can easily go to the grocery store and come back with dozens of bags and packages and wrappings. Plenty of folks don't recycle in those circumstances either.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
jordache 9y ago
Juicero is doing a good thing with an actual product too! "Our connected Press itself is critical to delivering a consistent, high quality and food safe product because it provides: The first closed loop food safety system that allows us to remotely disable Produce Packs if there is, for example, a spinach recall. In these scenarios, we’re able to protect our consumers in real-time. Consistent pressing of our Produce Packs calibrated by flavor to deliver the best combination of taste and nutrition every time. Connected data so we can manage a very tight supply chain, because our product is live, raw produce, and has a limited lifespan of about 8 days." - Juicero CEO
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
rattray 9y ago
I agree that they're doing a good thing. Doesn't mean they're worth investing in, or have prospects to match the valuation (I don't have an opinion either way on that personally, but I enjoy reading others' opinions).
hn_throwaway_99 9y ago
I don't really see it as a lot of hate. I agree with everything you said about them, but that still doesn't mean I think their multi-billion dollar valuation is in any way supported by their financials or their business model.
heavymark 9y ago
I used them for several months. They had a great site, good service and pretty tasty meals. While expensive, that is relative, and found it a good value considering I love following directions but am at a loss grocery shopping for a week of season meals. That being said, I left them because I didn't consider them, "healthy food". Now compared to eating out, or fast food or anything yes, they are certainly healthy. But compared to shopping yourself, or healthy food places, they are not healthy. The sodium levels and calories and everything are all very high. This is mostly because healthy doesn't typically taste as good, and there is a larger market for people who want tasty over healthy. They may eventually offer recipes tailored to low sodium, lower calories, and all like some competitors at which time I'd love to try them again.

paulcole 9y ago

>They are trying to help people cook healthy food, they are doing a good thing I don't think the idea that they're "doing a good thing" is so cut and dry. Aren't they producing an astounding amount of waste? And aren't the working conditions uncomfortable at best? https://www.buzzfeed.com/carolineodonovan/the-not-so-wholesome-reality-behind-the-making-of-your-meal https://www.buzzfeed.com/carolineodonovan/the-not-so-wholeso...

seibelj 9y ago
I think going into a dirty sewer is uncomfortable, but there are sewer inspectors, and paving a hot road in the summer is uncomfortable, but there are road pavers.
- paulcole 9y ago
  uh ok? And I think sewers and roads are slightly more essential than tiny packaged bags of basil shipped to my house.
  - seibelj 9y ago
    whoosh
  - subroutine 9y ago
    Things must be shipped in packages. Are you against all products delivered by mail, or just the ones you could get locally at a store?
groby_b 9y ago
Let's not forget the astonishing amount of dark patterns in their UI. Cancelling your Blue Apron account is... quite the experience. (Not to mention their food model seems to be "30% is crap we need to get rid of, and you will buy it")
- KWD 9y ago
  I actually don't recall any negative experience when I cancelled my account. It might be because I'd already opted out the future deliveries, but closed the account with no issues.
  - moonka 9y ago
    I did it recently. You have to email them, at which point they send you a link. At that point it's pretty straight forward.
nilkn 9y ago
I've subscribed to Blue Apron before and, regarding waste, it doesn't seem much different from going to the grocery store. Meat ingredients like chicken breast, salmon, and beef are individually wrapped exactly like they are in the store. Blue Apron doesn't wrap all their produce (but they do wrap some of it); most people I know use a lot of plastic bags for produce when going to the grocery, so that's a small difference in favor of Blue Apron. The cardboard box it comes in is of course recyclable. Miscellaneous knick knacks for the recipes come in small recyclable paper bags which certainly are made of less material than large grocery store bags. The only other things I can think of are very small plastic containers for fluids like soy sauce and the ice packs. Overall I wouldn't be surprised if Blue Apron is slightly more wasteful than going to the store, but it's a small difference at best, at least as far as basic packaging goes.
- koolba 9y ago
  Aren't the meats shipped with dry ice / styrofoam?
  - nilkn 9y ago
    I don't remember receiving any dry ice or styrofoam. The ice pack is recyclable. You just have to let it melt and empty out the water. There's a foil liner which is also recyclable. If there's no recycling option near you, you can even send the recyclable materials back to Blue Apron and they'll recycle it.
    - eropple 9y ago
      Do you think that people who are so theoretically time-strapped as to be using Blue Apron are likely to invest the time to recycle?
      - nilkn 9y ago
        I can only speak for myself, but I did recycle whatever I could from the leftover materials when I was subscribed. My apartment complex made it very easy to do so. Either way, needing to recycle is not unique to Blue Apron at all. You can easily go to the grocery store and come back with dozens of bags and packages and wrappings. Plenty of folks don't recycle in those circumstances either.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

jordache 9y ago

Juicero is doing a good thing with an actual product too! "Our connected Press itself is critical to delivering a consistent, high quality and food safe product because it provides: The first closed loop food safety system that allows us to remotely disable Produce Packs if there is, for example, a spinach recall. In these scenarios, we’re able to protect our consumers in real-time. Consistent pressing of our Produce Packs calibrated by flavor to deliver the best combination of taste and nutrition every time. Connected data so we can manage a very tight supply chain, because our product is live, raw produce, and has a limited lifespan of about 8 days." - Juicero CEO

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

rattray 9y ago

I agree that they're doing a good thing. Doesn't mean they're worth investing in, or have prospects to match the valuation (I don't have an opinion either way on that personally, but I enjoy reading others' opinions).

hn_throwaway_99 9y ago

I don't really see it as a lot of hate. I agree with everything you said about them, but that still doesn't mean I think their multi-billion dollar valuation is in any way supported by their financials or their business model.

heavymark 9y ago

I used them for several months. They had a great site, good service and pretty tasty meals. While expensive, that is relative, and found it a good value considering I love following directions but am at a loss grocery shopping for a week of season meals. That being said, I left them because I didn't consider them, "healthy food". Now compared to eating out, or fast food or anything yes, they are certainly healthy. But compared to shopping yourself, or healthy food places, they are not healthy. The sodium levels and calories and everything are all very high. This is mostly because healthy doesn't typically taste as good, and there is a larger market for people who want tasty over healthy. They may eventually offer recipes tailored to low sodium, lower calories, and all like some competitors at which time I'd love to try them again.