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Blue Apron Plummets After Amazon Files for Meal-Kit Trademark

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Re: Blue Apron Plummets After Amazon Files for Meal-Kit Trademark

#61

Post by yellowapple »

pera wrote: post #19

Please Amazon, do something different about the huge amount of material waste generated by companies like Blue Apron and Hello Fresh. This is the main reason why I stopped using these services, the footprint is just disgusting: plastic bags inside aluminum+plastic bags inside cardboard boxes with more plastic. Please, invent some form of reusable container that can be easily stored and delivered back so we can stop t…

You can reuse the boxes, thermal bags, and ice packs just fine. My folks stitched together a bunch of the thermal bags to cover their tomato plants during the winter / early spring.

The smaller bags are problematic, though some of them are also reusable (if they have a zipper or equivalent mechanism for resealing). The little bottles/jars are also reusable, though I've yet to actually find a use for them.

Re: Blue Apron Plummets After Amazon Files for Meal-Kit Trademark

#62

Post by oakesm9 »

xienze wrote: post #59
pera wrote: post #19

Please Amazon, do something different about the huge amount of material waste generated by companies like Blue Apron and Hello Fresh. This is the main reason why I stopped using these services, the footprint is just disgusting: plastic bags inside aluminum+plastic bags inside cardboard boxes with more plastic. Please, invent some form of reusable container that can be easily stored and delivered back so we can stop t…

> plastic bags inside aluminum+plastic bags inside cardboard boxes with more plastic. All recyclable, what's the problem here? > Please, invent some form of reusable container that can be easily stored and delivered back so we can stop trashing the Earth. So is the real issue that you're concerned with reducing waste (recyclable at that!) that's visible to you, consequences be damned? Because I'm not so sure shipping…

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, in that order is what you should aim for. It still takes a lot of energy to recycle something and much less to reuse it as is or not use it in the first place

Re: Blue Apron Plummets After Amazon Files for Meal-Kit Trademark

#63

Post by xienze »

oakesm9 wrote: post #62
xienze wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> plastic bags inside aluminum+plastic bags inside cardboard boxes with more plastic. All recyclable, what's the problem here? > Please, invent some form of reusable container that can be easily stored and delivered back so we can stop trashing the Earth. So is the real issue that you're concerned with reducing waste (recyclable at that!) that's visible to you, consequences be damned? Because I'm not so sure shipping…

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, in that order is what you should aim for. It still takes a lot of energy to recycle something and much less to reuse it as is or not use it in the first place

Again, this assumes that shipping an empty container however many miles uses less energy. BA has three, count 'em, three distribution centers for the entire country. If I live in Florida, what do you think has a lower carbon footprint? Recycling my BA waste, or shipping it to New Jersey?

Re: Blue Apron Plummets After Amazon Files for Meal-Kit Trademark

#64

Post by csydas »

butterfi wrote: post #22
monocasa wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It signals Amazon's entry into the market.

But no actual impact to Blue Apron, other then a 500lb gorilla wanting your lunch?

It indicates that a competitor Blue Apron can't hope to compete with is ready to compete. Amazon has everything to hit the ground running and more, and with everyone knowing Blue Apron is bleeding to get customers, it means that investors aren't going to be throwing money their way. With Echo being as popular as it is, it's a natural addition to the Echo Ecosystem; undoubtedly Alexa is about to become the world's best sous chef.

As has been pointed out, Blue Apron fails to mark its territory in any meaningful way and only had power from first movers advantage. That power is gone now.

Re: Blue Apron Plummets After Amazon Files for Meal-Kit Trademark

#65

Post by rickyc091 »

pera wrote: post #19

Please Amazon, do something different about the huge amount of material waste generated by companies like Blue Apron and Hello Fresh. This is the main reason why I stopped using these services, the footprint is just disgusting: plastic bags inside aluminum+plastic bags inside cardboard boxes with more plastic. Please, invent some form of reusable container that can be easily stored and delivered back so we can stop t…

Actually Amazon Fresh is just this! They use local trucks to deliver the food. The food is placed inside a tote bag which contains reusable foam cushions and ice packs. You end up returning everything on the next delivery cycle. The downside is if you have a small apartment, it requires a bit of storage room.

Re: Blue Apron Plummets After Amazon Files for Meal-Kit Trademark

#66

Post by petra »

dtien wrote: post #11
jonknee wrote: post #9

It would be a great fit given that the main challenge is logistics which Amazon is already a leader in. With Amazon Fresh they even have the ability to pick up the previous week's boxes and cold packs (along with delivering the rest of your groceries at the same time!). Blue Apron spends a fortune acquiring new customers, possibly up to $460 per sign up as of recently [1]. I bet the percentage of Blue Apron subscribe…

And possibly the ace in the hole, the Whole Foods aquisition. Local distribution centers via the whole foods stores, with fresh foods, even with premade foods if you wish. Could ultimately be a blue apron/munchery hybrid. Their advantage would of course be their world class distribution/fulfillment tech, but also the fact that the costs of the food parts are mostly sunk already into the Whole Foods biz.

I agree. The munchery/whole-foods combo is the ace here.

They only need to figure out meals that last 7 days (chilled) with natural ingredients only, but since freshly(acquired by nestle) did it, it's possible.

Or maybe there's some patent here, and it's really hard to achieve otherwise, and that's why nestle bought them.

Re: Blue Apron Plummets After Amazon Files for Meal-Kit Trademark

#67

Post by cowsandmilk »

pera wrote: post #60
Yhippa wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the resultant carbon footprint as a result of delivering these things back?

They could try to do both things (delivering new packages and taking back containers) at the same time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milkman http://pocketcultures.com/2012/01/25/argentinean-customs-hav...

And that is indeed what AmazonFresh does. They pick them up when they do your next delivery.

Re: Blue Apron Plummets After Amazon Files for Meal-Kit Trademark

#68

Post by calafrax »

naturalgradient wrote: post #31
erik-g wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does meal-kit distribution eliminate a lot of food waste?

Presumably because of better portioning. For a lot of meals, you only need a very small amount of one ingredient which you cannot buy in that quantity. Meal kits come with the right proportions for every ingredient.

Yes, waste is reduced on the consumer side, but there is also enormous waste in the supply chain and retail.

https://www.wired.com/2016/07/us-throws-away-much-half-food-...

Re: Blue Apron Plummets After Amazon Files for Meal-Kit Trademark

#70

Post by rtkwe »

oakesm9 wrote: post #62
xienze wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> plastic bags inside aluminum+plastic bags inside cardboard boxes with more plastic. All recyclable, what's the problem here? > Please, invent some form of reusable container that can be easily stored and delivered back so we can stop trashing the Earth. So is the real issue that you're concerned with reducing waste (recyclable at that!) that's visible to you, consequences be damned? Because I'm not so sure shipping…

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, in that order is what you should aim for. It still takes a lot of energy to recycle something and much less to reuse it as is or not use it in the first place

That aphorism is true in general but reuse might still fall short here and it's most true when you're dealing with the recipient reusing the item themselves not shipping it back to be reused. To get the it back to Amazon or whatever meal service sent the boxes will require a second trip by your house to pick up the used items, the entire trip back to the warehouse where the food boxes are packed (which is probably not local unless Amazon gets into this in a big way, and smaller companies can't afford the huge build out of local packing and distribution when there's so little customer lock in), then finally the energy to fully wash and sanitize them before shipping out again.
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