7 ms·

> Finally, if there were a real clamor for meal kits, what's to keep Whole Foods or whoever from just assembling their own meal kits? Home delivery seems to be

> Finally, if there were a real clamor for meal kits, what's to keep Whole Foods or whoever from just assembling their own meal kits? Home delivery seems to be one of the key factors, so as long as Whole Foods/etc can offer home delivery, then yeah there's nothing stopping them.

jonknee 9y ago
> so as long as Whole Foods/etc can offer home delivery, then yeah there's nothing stopping them If only a company with a battle tested home delivery network would acquire them...
- urethrafranklin 9y ago
  Whole Foods themselves do home delivery. Amazon do not.
  - dragonwriter 9y ago
    Amazon Prime Fresh is a thing; they absolutely do home delivery.
    - urethrafranklin 9y ago
      The delivery is outsourced and not handled directly by Amazon.
      - deleted 9y ago
        [deleted]
      - detaro 9y ago
        Why is it relevant if the delivery is done by contractors of some kind or by the company directly? Amazon probably even has closer control over their network than WF over Instacart, which isn't exclusive to them.
      - aeorgnoieang 9y ago
        Isn't this is true of (almost) everything else Amazon sells too? [I'm ignoring AWS and other products or services that don't need to be physically delivered.]
  - jonknee 9y ago
    Technically Whole Foods does not themselves do delivery (it's Instacart), while Amazon actually does (Fresh)... Amazon's also working on grocery pickup, which seems perfect for meal kits.
    - urethrafranklin 9y ago
      Okay, looks like that is true today, but Whole Foods was doing home delivery before Instacart even existed, at least in NYC. Amazon Fresh outsources their actual delivery, as well, so no points for that one.
      - ghaff 9y ago
        Cambridge as well. Grocers that cater to a lot of customers who walk to the store have been delivering since before there was an Internet.
      - jonknee 9y ago
        > Amazon Fresh outsources their actual delivery, as well, so no points for that one. In my neighborhood there's an Amazon delivery truck that drops off Amazon bags by people who have Amazon uniforms on... Perhaps they're 1099, but for all intents and purposes it is Amazon doing the delivery.
ghaff 9y ago
Which even leaving Amazon out of the picture for now, people can often get today either directly or through Instacart. Services like Blue Apron are admittedly somewhat lower friction though. I do think there's some market for urban stores that people walk to carrying this type of product. And I've seen at least one example.

jonknee 9y ago

> so as long as Whole Foods/etc can offer home delivery, then yeah there's nothing stopping them If only a company with a battle tested home delivery network would acquire them...

urethrafranklin 9y ago
Whole Foods themselves do home delivery. Amazon do not.
- dragonwriter 9y ago
  Amazon Prime Fresh is a thing; they absolutely do home delivery.
  - urethrafranklin 9y ago
    The delivery is outsourced and not handled directly by Amazon.
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
    - detaro 9y ago
      Why is it relevant if the delivery is done by contractors of some kind or by the company directly? Amazon probably even has closer control over their network than WF over Instacart, which isn't exclusive to them.
    - aeorgnoieang 9y ago
      Isn't this is true of (almost) everything else Amazon sells too? [I'm ignoring AWS and other products or services that don't need to be physically delivered.]
- jonknee 9y ago
  Technically Whole Foods does not themselves do delivery (it's Instacart), while Amazon actually does (Fresh)... Amazon's also working on grocery pickup, which seems perfect for meal kits.
  - urethrafranklin 9y ago
    Okay, looks like that is true today, but Whole Foods was doing home delivery before Instacart even existed, at least in NYC. Amazon Fresh outsources their actual delivery, as well, so no points for that one.
    - ghaff 9y ago
      Cambridge as well. Grocers that cater to a lot of customers who walk to the store have been delivering since before there was an Internet.
    - jonknee 9y ago
      > Amazon Fresh outsources their actual delivery, as well, so no points for that one. In my neighborhood there's an Amazon delivery truck that drops off Amazon bags by people who have Amazon uniforms on... Perhaps they're 1099, but for all intents and purposes it is Amazon doing the delivery.

ghaff 9y ago

Which even leaving Amazon out of the picture for now, people can often get today either directly or through Instacart. Services like Blue Apron are admittedly somewhat lower friction though. I do think there's some market for urban stores that people walk to carrying this type of product. And I've seen at least one example.