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I haven't tried Blue Apron or any of Amazon's meal delivery services but I do use one of BA's competitors. I don't have the time to plan multiple meals a week f

by Yhippa 9y ago

I haven't tried Blue Apron or any of Amazon's meal delivery services but I do use one of BA's competitors. I don't have the time to plan multiple meals a week for every week of the year. I don't want to make one big meal at the start of the week and eat leftovers for the rest of the week. Furthermore fresh ingredients get delivered to you in the right portions. When I've done this in the past I end up with way more ingredients than I need that end up getting thrown out. These services also give you a way to quickly try a meal out and decide if you like it or not to make it again in the future. If so you keep the recipe card. There is absolutely value in these meal services. I think it's likely that Amazon and Whole Foods can replicate this process though and they will be able to drive down costs due to their distribution power and economies of scale.

vkou 9y ago
"Furthermore fresh ingredients get delivered to you in the right portions. When I've done this in the past I end up with way more ingredients than I need that end up getting thrown out." Unless you're throwing out ~60% of the ingredients you buy, surely grocery shopping (Or, if you don't want to shop, grocery delivery services) are more economical. It's also probably better for the environment, given the amount of packaging that goes into Blue Apron meals.
- ghaff 9y ago
  Yep. Sure I end up throwing out scallions and parsley that are past their prime but I'm pretty sure I still come out ahead in terms of price versus meal kits. That said, the waste argument in the other direction also seems overblown (all the plastic bags etc. that BA and many of its competitors use). I'm pretty sure that if you looked at the carbon footprint--or whatever measure you want to use--for Chinese takeout or other prepared food options that people don't think twice about versus "wasteful" BA, you'd probably find those other options were a heck of a lot worse. (I agree BA is probably somewhat wasteful compared to regular grocery delivery but I'm betting it's pretty small potatoes in the scheme of things.)
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- cpt1138 9y ago
  I heard farm to trashcan waste is the worst. Blue Apron seems to mitigate all of that and most of their packaging is recyclable. Just what I heard, don't know how the industry really works. We have reproduced several recipes with red cabbage and thrown out more than 60% every single time.

by Yhippa 9y ago

vkou 9y ago

"Furthermore fresh ingredients get delivered to you in the right portions. When I've done this in the past I end up with way more ingredients than I need that end up getting thrown out." Unless you're throwing out ~60% of the ingredients you buy, surely grocery shopping (Or, if you don't want to shop, grocery delivery services) are more economical. It's also probably better for the environment, given the amount of packaging that goes into Blue Apron meals.

ghaff 9y ago
Yep. Sure I end up throwing out scallions and parsley that are past their prime but I'm pretty sure I still come out ahead in terms of price versus meal kits. That said, the waste argument in the other direction also seems overblown (all the plastic bags etc. that BA and many of its competitors use). I'm pretty sure that if you looked at the carbon footprint--or whatever measure you want to use--for Chinese takeout or other prepared food options that people don't think twice about versus "wasteful" BA, you'd probably find those other options were a heck of a lot worse. (I agree BA is probably somewhat wasteful compared to regular grocery delivery but I'm betting it's pretty small potatoes in the scheme of things.)
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
cpt1138 9y ago
I heard farm to trashcan waste is the worst. Blue Apron seems to mitigate all of that and most of their packaging is recyclable. Just what I heard, don't know how the industry really works. We have reproduced several recipes with red cabbage and thrown out more than 60% every single time.