Blue Apron Plummets After Amazon Files for Meal-Kit Trademark • Hacker News Board

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

#71

Post by gnicholas » Mon, Jul 17, 2017, 5:33 PM UTC

Yhippa wrote: post #42

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…

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

When I found out that Tile offers mail-in recycling for their trackers, I wondered the same thing. Perhaps this service is offered to assuage the guilty conscience of people who would like to buy a tracker but feel bad about buying something they'll throw away. But if it's something that can be recycled by the company (again, at what cost?), then it goes from being disposable to "reusable".

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

#72

Post by grogenaut » Mon, Jul 17, 2017, 5:34 PM UTC

jbob2000 wrote: post #15

gberger wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why?

Probably for the same reason I don't shop for groceries at Walmart. Both brand images are associated with cheap crap. I don't want to eat cheap crap.

The food at wal-mart and target isn't any better or worse than that at say a safeway or kroger.

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

#73

Post by bdcravens » Mon, Jul 17, 2017, 5:35 PM UTC

jbob2000 wrote: post #23

jimmaswell wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since when does Amazon have an association like that?

Since their site was full of knock-offs and half of it ships from China? Every time I shop on Amazon, I have to cross-reference with like 8 different sites to make sure I'm ordering the right thing and that the price is fair.

> half of it ships from China

A good filter to start with is only products fulfilled by Amazon, and a step further, only Prime products. Granted, the due diligence still sucks, but I spend several thousands of dollars a year on Amazon products, and aside from the products that I know are cheap (like $4 phone cases) I've never had any issues.

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

#74

Post by bdcravens » Mon, Jul 17, 2017, 5:37 PM UTC

jbob2000 wrote: post #15

gberger wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why?

Probably for the same reason I don't shop for groceries at Walmart. Both brand images are associated with cheap crap. I don't want to eat cheap crap.

Oddly enough I've found Coca Cola bought from WalMart tastes the same as from a locally-owned grocery.

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

#75

Post by blacksmith_tb » Mon, Jul 17, 2017, 5:38 PM UTC

madengr wrote: post #69

Aren't meal-kits just plain expensive, compared to shopping at a local grocery store?

I don't think they are interested in competing on price, the value proposition is that they save you time, and the effort of meal planning. But they are pitching themselves as cheaper than eating out, and with at least the illusion the food is healthier (plus a pinch of the IKEA effect since you cooked it yourself).

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

#76

Post by rtkwe » Mon, Jul 17, 2017, 5:38 PM UTC

erik-g wrote: post #27

calafrax wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The packaging waste with some meal kits is a negative but they also eliminate a lot of food waste which is a positive. The traditional food distribution system is massively wasteful but all of that waste is hidden so it is easier to ignore.

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

Beyond normal shelf spoilage from super markets there's a lot of ingredients that can only really be bought fresh in amounts much larger than can really be used. For example cilantro or parsley generally comes in either in cheap large bunches or much more expensive individually (plastic) packaged smaller servings but the large bunches is way more than most people could reasonably use before it begins to wilt and rot so it's wasted.

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

#77

Post by bdcravens » Mon, Jul 17, 2017, 5:40 PM UTC

ProAm wrote: post #7

A meal kit from Amazon sounds gross.

Yet a year ago if Whole Foods announced meal kits for $300 a week it probably would have caused Tumblr to go down.

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

#78

Post by pera » Mon, Jul 17, 2017, 5:43 PM UTC

rtkwe wrote: post #70

oakesm9 wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 no…

In one single trip you can take an old container and deliver a new one with food. Also, Amazon owns Whole Foods, so I don't see why the warehouse couldn't be local. Finally, recycling plastic and glass usually requires washing the material.

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

#79

Post by yellowapple » Mon, Jul 17, 2017, 5:44 PM UTC

jbob2000 wrote: post #15

gberger wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why?

Probably for the same reason I don't shop for groceries at Walmart. Both brand images are associated with cheap crap. I don't want to eat cheap crap.

Wal-Mart actually has pretty good food even under its own brand. It's certainly no worse than any other generic / store-specific brand of food.

Wal-Mart also happens to be among the few grocers in my area that consistently stocks plantains (which are among my favorite foods, especially when fried and served with refried beans and sour cream).

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

#80

Post by bpodgursky » Mon, Jul 17, 2017, 5:44 PM UTC

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…

Kind of off topic, but for most of my childhood the mantra was "recycle everything, because plastic and food garbage in landfills takes centuries and centuries to break down"

With the new awareness that atmospheric CO2 is the main environmental problem facing the world (rather than giant landfills, which are un-aesthetic but not really a big deal), I've wondered whether this logic makes sense anymore.

Isn't a giant landfill full of carbon-based food, carbon-based plastic, and carbon-based paper a good form of carbon sequestration? Obviously it just buys us time, because it'll decompose in a few centuries, but hopefully by the time that happens we'll have better methods of removing CO2 from the atmosphere.