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I used it for the better part of 3 years. Made me a pretty good cook. I probably wouldn't use it again now that I feel a lot more confident in the kitchen.

kafkaesq 9y ago
I probably wouldn't use it again now that I feel a lot more confident in the kitchen. That's the big flaw I see in their product model - it's inherently self-limiting.
- eeeeeeeeeeeee 9y ago
  It's similar to coffee subscription services that give you a different bag each month. Those services helped me define what I enjoyed and now I just buy coffee directly because I know what I want.
  - kafkaesq 9y ago
    That's good comparison, actually. But do you see any of those subscription services filing for an IPO? Or needing all that automation and cleverness (and implicitly, with all that overhead, scale) just to get their stuff out of the door? That's the problem with Blue Apron. It's a nice idea. But it's just too darn big of an idea (and way too much engineering) for the problem it addresses.
    - eeeeeeeeeeeee 9y ago
      I agree. Blue Apron's operation can be reproduced, and Amazon is probably one of the best companies to do it now that they have Whole Foods. I don't see a coffee subscription type service going to IPO, unless it's part of a larger business. However, total spend on groceries/food will always be higher than coffee, so it's not an equal comparison exactly.
- twothamendment 9y ago
  True, BA is a way to educate people until the service isn't needed. That could be a problem, but I have the feeling there are plenty of people who can't cook. The question is - can the afford these lessons?
  - Y7ZCQtNo39 9y ago
    It's way cheaper than actual cooking classes. That doesn't totally answer your question, but I've found receiving the food with well-written descriptions (they are particular in the language they use to describe how to cook things, so you get it just right). It's like, the next step down in my opinion from physically going to a class and having someone teach you a couple things.
  - kafkaesq 9y ago
    Oh, it can be great as a niche-y, learning-to-cook service. If inherently somewhat costly. Just not the wide-scale, low-margin partial-replacement-for-takeout-and-grocery-shopping that they appear to be need it to be for their business model to succeed.
smackfu 9y ago
It seemed like they always included some weird ingredient it would be hard to get locally. But we also are 30 minutes from a Whole Foods.
- freehunter 9y ago
  The real art of cooking is learning ingredient substitution.

kafkaesq 9y ago

I probably wouldn't use it again now that I feel a lot more confident in the kitchen. That's the big flaw I see in their product model - it's inherently self-limiting.

eeeeeeeeeeeee 9y ago
It's similar to coffee subscription services that give you a different bag each month. Those services helped me define what I enjoyed and now I just buy coffee directly because I know what I want.
- kafkaesq 9y ago
  That's good comparison, actually. But do you see any of those subscription services filing for an IPO? Or needing all that automation and cleverness (and implicitly, with all that overhead, scale) just to get their stuff out of the door? That's the problem with Blue Apron. It's a nice idea. But it's just too darn big of an idea (and way too much engineering) for the problem it addresses.
  - eeeeeeeeeeeee 9y ago
    I agree. Blue Apron's operation can be reproduced, and Amazon is probably one of the best companies to do it now that they have Whole Foods. I don't see a coffee subscription type service going to IPO, unless it's part of a larger business. However, total spend on groceries/food will always be higher than coffee, so it's not an equal comparison exactly.
twothamendment 9y ago
True, BA is a way to educate people until the service isn't needed. That could be a problem, but I have the feeling there are plenty of people who can't cook. The question is - can the afford these lessons?
- Y7ZCQtNo39 9y ago
  It's way cheaper than actual cooking classes. That doesn't totally answer your question, but I've found receiving the food with well-written descriptions (they are particular in the language they use to describe how to cook things, so you get it just right). It's like, the next step down in my opinion from physically going to a class and having someone teach you a couple things.
- kafkaesq 9y ago
  Oh, it can be great as a niche-y, learning-to-cook service. If inherently somewhat costly. Just not the wide-scale, low-margin partial-replacement-for-takeout-and-grocery-shopping that they appear to be need it to be for their business model to succeed.

smackfu 9y ago

It seemed like they always included some weird ingredient it would be hard to get locally. But we also are 30 minutes from a Whole Foods.

freehunter 9y ago
The real art of cooking is learning ingredient substitution.