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I wonder a bit why there is no player like amazon in the food business. I mean a completely integrated one from buying ingredients to cooking to delivering.

by baxtr 6y ago

kevingadd 6y ago
As the article notes, Amazon tried it and bailed out (presumably because it was not worth the trouble)
mikeiz404 6y ago
For reference: > Amazon, a company that many would consider an expert in e-commerce and logistics, tested the market and left about a year ago. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/11/business/amazon-restaurant-delivery-service-ending.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/11/business/amazon-restauran... > Since it started in Seattle in 2015, Amazon Restaurants has struggled to gain a foothold in the restaurant delivery market. Together, UberEats, Grubhub and DoorDash control nearly 80 percent of the restaurant delivery business, according to the research firm Edison Trends. > Still, Amazon Restaurants is unlikely to be the company’s last venture into restaurant delivery. Earlier this year, Amazon invested heavily in Deliveroo, signaling its sees long-term interest in the area.
DoreenMichele 6y ago
A lot of things that typically fall under the heading "women's work" are tough to make profitable as a business. This includes food prep and child care. Restaurants have notoriously slim margins. Yes, there are many restaurants on the planet. But it's a tough business. Adding delivery or what not just makes it tougher. What you are describing is like a personal chef, which is out of the price range of most people. (Or it's called a full-time wife, which is also out of the price range of most people these days.)
- baxtr 6y ago
  Thanks. That was sad and insightful at the same time!
  - TeMPOraL 6y ago
    As a husband of a now full-time wife, who decided to stay on external parental leave to spend more time with our child and improve her career skills (in whatever little free time), I'm deeply saddened by how society sees this kind of work. Every couple of days I have to reassure and remind her that what she does - raising our child, feeding us, caring for the home - is a real job, is a hard one, and it's more important than mine. I just push buttons on the keyboard for 8 hours a day, and somehow convince people to pay me for it.
- rdtwo 6y ago
  I don’t know why you don’t think child care can be operated profitably. In Seattle you can have something like 6 kids per caretaker can charge about 2k/month a head. There is a minimum size though that makes sense because you get to take credit for contact staff so you can up that to 8+ if you have a cleaner or receptionist on site. It’s not programmer money but it can generate decent stable revenue. Better that most non high tech low education required jobs.
  - DoreenMichele 6y ago
    2k/month a head Minimum wage in Seattle is $12/hour. $12/hour x 40 hours per week x 4.3 weeks in a month is $2064. Presumably, that's before taxes, etc. (Yes, I know Washington doesn't do income tax, but you still have to pay federal income tax.) Obviously, boutique-style businesses aimed at wealthy clientele can be made profitable. But that's not what most people are dealing with. I never said that daycare cannot be profitable. Just that these tend to be tough things to make profitable. Similarly, some restaurants are making a killing. But most restaurants have slim margins. And daycare is generally considered to be a tough business as well for various reasons.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]

I wonder a bit why there is no player like amazon in the food business. I mean a completely integrated one from buying ingredients to cooking to delivering.

by baxtr 6y ago

I wonder a bit why there is no player like amazon in the food business. I mean a completely integrated one from buying ingredients to cooking to delivering.

kevingadd 6y ago

As the article notes, Amazon tried it and bailed out (presumably because it was not worth the trouble)

mikeiz404 6y ago

For reference: > Amazon, a company that many would consider an expert in e-commerce and logistics, tested the market and left about a year ago. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/11/business/amazon-restaurant-delivery-service-ending.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/11/business/amazon-restauran... > Since it started in Seattle in 2015, Amazon Restaurants has struggled to gain a foothold in the restaurant delivery market. Together, UberEats, Grubhub and DoorDash control nearly 80 percent of the restaurant delivery business, according to the research firm Edison Trends. > Still, Amazon Restaurants is unlikely to be the company’s last venture into restaurant delivery. Earlier this year, Amazon invested heavily in Deliveroo, signaling its sees long-term interest in the area.

DoreenMichele 6y ago

A lot of things that typically fall under the heading "women's work" are tough to make profitable as a business. This includes food prep and child care. Restaurants have notoriously slim margins. Yes, there are many restaurants on the planet. But it's a tough business. Adding delivery or what not just makes it tougher. What you are describing is like a personal chef, which is out of the price range of most people. (Or it's called a full-time wife, which is also out of the price range of most people these days.)

baxtr 6y ago
Thanks. That was sad and insightful at the same time!
- TeMPOraL 6y ago
  As a husband of a now full-time wife, who decided to stay on external parental leave to spend more time with our child and improve her career skills (in whatever little free time), I'm deeply saddened by how society sees this kind of work. Every couple of days I have to reassure and remind her that what she does - raising our child, feeding us, caring for the home - is a real job, is a hard one, and it's more important than mine. I just push buttons on the keyboard for 8 hours a day, and somehow convince people to pay me for it.
rdtwo 6y ago
I don’t know why you don’t think child care can be operated profitably. In Seattle you can have something like 6 kids per caretaker can charge about 2k/month a head. There is a minimum size though that makes sense because you get to take credit for contact staff so you can up that to 8+ if you have a cleaner or receptionist on site. It’s not programmer money but it can generate decent stable revenue. Better that most non high tech low education required jobs.
- DoreenMichele 6y ago
  2k/month a head Minimum wage in Seattle is $12/hour. $12/hour x 40 hours per week x 4.3 weeks in a month is $2064. Presumably, that's before taxes, etc. (Yes, I know Washington doesn't do income tax, but you still have to pay federal income tax.) Obviously, boutique-style businesses aimed at wealthy clientele can be made profitable. But that's not what most people are dealing with. I never said that daycare cannot be profitable. Just that these tend to be tough things to make profitable. Similarly, some restaurants are making a killing. But most restaurants have slim margins. And daycare is generally considered to be a tough business as well for various reasons.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]