Blue Apron becomes a penny stock, trading under $1 for the first time • Hacker News Board

Re: Blue Apron becomes a penny stock, trading under $1 for the first time

#81

Post by jghn » Tue, Dec 18, 2018, 6:33 PM UTC

ghaff wrote: post #28

jonathanjaeger wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They recently added meals that take 20-30min rather than 30-55min and it has made a world of difference, not to mention they expanded the menu. I also find some of the meals tastier because they're simpler rather than using too many ingredients. I still get the occasional bland one, but they have improved. As a company I wouldn't invest in them. The amount they spend on advertising (e.g. really pricey podcast adverti…

I only used them once and one of the meals was the most complicated hamburger recipe I'd ever made and I didn't think it was really all that good. I half suspect there are motivations behind making the recipes for these services complex and a little exotic. If they had four ingredient recipes that took 10 minutes of prep, I daresay a lot of people would think "I'm paying 2x to 3x what I would pay in the grocery store…

They seem to frequently include one atypical or exotic ingredient, I’ve always figured it was a way to get people to think it’s something they can’t get at the store and thus more likely to purchase.

To be honest it does work on me. I get a BA shipment here or there and it’s always because they’re using something I wouldn’t normally work with or see at the at the store.

I personally don’t mind most of the other common complaints, I tend to do a lot of scratch cooking so these are usually quick recipes in comparison. Likewise it tends to be cheaper per-meal than my normal dinners.

Re: Blue Apron becomes a penny stock, trading under $1 for the first time

#82

Post by diminoten » Tue, Dec 18, 2018, 6:33 PM UTC

ngngngng wrote: post #53

I feel like grocery stores could easily compete with blue apron for much lower costs. Just ration the food they already have in stock in little packages. Charge a little more than you would otherwise for the employees time picking recipes and combining them into the packages. I would happily use this service at local grocery stores. But compared to grocery stores and cooking from scratch blue apron is too expensive f…

This is like saying, "Why take your car to the mechanic? I do my own repair work and it's way cheaper!"

Blue Apron is for people who don't know what to buy at the grocery store. Grocery stores could definitely attack this by doing what you're suggesting, but part of this is the very concept that I can't walk into a grocery store, buy some chicken, and turn it into something tasty.

Re: Blue Apron becomes a penny stock, trading under $1 for the first time

#83

Post by joshstrange » Tue, Dec 18, 2018, 6:34 PM UTC

ngngngng wrote: post #67

joshstrange wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some already do this [0] and it's 10000x better than Blue Apron/Plated/Hello Fresh. Also they don't have the same perverse incentives that BA/P/HF have. Kroger might make a profit off their meal kits but they aren't 100% reliant on that revenue, in fact I'd bet they don't really care that much if you but the meal kit or all the parts of the meal kit because you are still buying it in their stores. [0] https://www.kro…

That's really good to hear. I don't have Kroger near me now unfortunately. I might contact some local grocers and suggest this as I really think this model of cooking could improve my quality of life significantly.

My partner and I have used it a few times and if we like a meal I record the recipe in Paprika (amazing recipe app, really love this app) and we just buy the ingredients "raw". It means we can adjust portion sizes, plan for leftovers, and alter the flavor as desired.

Re: Blue Apron becomes a penny stock, trading under $1 for the first time

#84

Post by bthrn » Tue, Dec 18, 2018, 6:35 PM UTC

joshstrange wrote: post #76

chad_strategic wrote: post #6

After 10 years of marriage, my wife thought it would be helpful for me to start cooking, as she was getting stressed out with our 2 years old. We used Blue Apron as the starting point. I can't tell you how much time we save in planning meals and trips to the store. My wife doesn't have nag me about what I what I want for the week's dinner. The quality of the food and the time saved is well worth the price. I know the…

> After 10 years of marriage, my wife thought it would be helpful for me to start cooking, as she was getting stressed out with our 2 years old. After 10 years of marriage your wife had to be the one to bring up that you should probably be helping with basis household chores?? > I can't tell you how much time we save in planning meals and trips to the store. Is it because you haven't really saved the time? Also Peopl…

There is basically nothing helpful or constructive in your comment here. You seem to be pretty upset about this, do you have some sort of vendetta against Blue Apron?

Re: Blue Apron becomes a penny stock, trading under $1 for the first time

#85

Post by wastedhours » Tue, Dec 18, 2018, 6:35 PM UTC

rayiner wrote: post #45

ghaff wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's definitely a use case for these services. It's just a fairly narrow one. - Willing and able to cook for, ideally, more than one person - Able to plan a week ahead for the most part - OK with paying a non-trivial premium to have a lot of menu planning and shopping be handled by someone else I tried Blue Apron and thought it was "OK" but I could never really make these meal kit services work out for me. t obvio…

It's targeting a narrow intersection of people who are rich enough to pay $10 per serving for a meal, have the time to cook every night, and are okay with the lack of customizability in ingredients.[1] We considered it but it made no sense for us. It would save us a little money versus eating out all the time, but it doesn't solve the time problem (my wife and I both get home around 7:30 or 8:00 and need to get the f…

> I would rather see a high-end TV dinner service.

Am exploring that market at the minute, the model would be order on your morning commute, pick up freshly prepped ready meals from your transport hub on the way home.

Interested in talking to anyone who's looking for something in that space.

Re: Blue Apron becomes a penny stock, trading under $1 for the first time

#86

Post by lazyasciiart » Tue, Dec 18, 2018, 6:36 PM UTC

rayiner wrote: post #45

ghaff wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's definitely a use case for these services. It's just a fairly narrow one. - Willing and able to cook for, ideally, more than one person - Able to plan a week ahead for the most part - OK with paying a non-trivial premium to have a lot of menu planning and shopping be handled by someone else I tried Blue Apron and thought it was "OK" but I could never really make these meal kit services work out for me. t obvio…

It's targeting a narrow intersection of people who are rich enough to pay $10 per serving for a meal, have the time to cook every night, and are okay with the lack of customizability in ingredients.[1] We considered it but it made no sense for us. It would save us a little money versus eating out all the time, but it doesn't solve the time problem (my wife and I both get home around 7:30 or 8:00 and need to get the f…

Freshly does packaged prepared meals, which is presumably what you're talking about. There's another one I can't remember now.

Re: Blue Apron becomes a penny stock, trading under $1 for the first time

#87

Post by adt2bt » Tue, Dec 18, 2018, 6:36 PM UTC

joshstrange wrote: post #76

chad_strategic wrote: post #6

After 10 years of marriage, my wife thought it would be helpful for me to start cooking, as she was getting stressed out with our 2 years old. We used Blue Apron as the starting point. I can't tell you how much time we save in planning meals and trips to the store. My wife doesn't have nag me about what I what I want for the week's dinner. The quality of the food and the time saved is well worth the price. I know the…

> After 10 years of marriage, my wife thought it would be helpful for me to start cooking, as she was getting stressed out with our 2 years old. After 10 years of marriage your wife had to be the one to bring up that you should probably be helping with basis household chores?? > I can't tell you how much time we save in planning meals and trips to the store. Is it because you haven't really saved the time? Also Peopl…

What is with this comment on Hacker News? This is not appropriate. GP gave his experience with Blue Apron and you’re here picking fights about his marriage?

I understand if you’re not a fan of Blue Apron, if so, try to stay on message.

Re: Blue Apron becomes a penny stock, trading under $1 for the first time

#88

Post by davesque » Tue, Dec 18, 2018, 6:36 PM UTC

joshstrange wrote: post #76

chad_strategic wrote: post #6

After 10 years of marriage, my wife thought it would be helpful for me to start cooking, as she was getting stressed out with our 2 years old. We used Blue Apron as the starting point. I can't tell you how much time we save in planning meals and trips to the store. My wife doesn't have nag me about what I what I want for the week's dinner. The quality of the food and the time saved is well worth the price. I know the…

> After 10 years of marriage, my wife thought it would be helpful for me to start cooking, as she was getting stressed out with our 2 years old. After 10 years of marriage your wife had to be the one to bring up that you should probably be helping with basis household chores?? > I can't tell you how much time we save in planning meals and trips to the store. Is it because you haven't really saved the time? Also Peopl…

This feels like a completely cruel and inappropriate reaction to that person's post. You're assuming a million things based on a few comments.

Re: Blue Apron becomes a penny stock, trading under $1 for the first time

#89

Post by jacobolus » Tue, Dec 18, 2018, 6:37 PM UTC

joshstrange wrote: post #76

chad_strategic wrote: post #6

After 10 years of marriage, my wife thought it would be helpful for me to start cooking, as she was getting stressed out with our 2 years old. We used Blue Apron as the starting point. I can't tell you how much time we save in planning meals and trips to the store. My wife doesn't have nag me about what I what I want for the week's dinner. The quality of the food and the time saved is well worth the price. I know the…

> After 10 years of marriage, my wife thought it would be helpful for me to start cooking, as she was getting stressed out with our 2 years old. After 10 years of marriage your wife had to be the one to bring up that you should probably be helping with basis household chores?? > I can't tell you how much time we save in planning meals and trips to the store. Is it because you haven't really saved the time? Also Peopl…

This is a very strange reply. You are assuming a whole lot more about chad_strategic’s relationship with his wife than he ever implied.

You think it is unusual that having a 2-year-old would change the break-down of domestic work vs. when the couple was childless?

Re: Blue Apron becomes a penny stock, trading under $1 for the first time

#90

Post by mawburn » Tue, Dec 18, 2018, 6:37 PM UTC

jerkstate wrote: post #52

mawburn wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> OK with paying a non-trivial premium to have a lot of menu planning and shopping be handled by someone else This is the one I've never been able to get past. For what these services cost, I can have someone else prepare my meal that will taste just as good or better. Why would I not do that? I get if you're trying to learn to cook or something like that, but that only sounds like a temporary problem.

$10 per serving is essentially fast food prices in the bay area - you can't really get a healthy meal with meat and vegetables. My family used Blue Apron for a while when we first had kids, and it was great for our lifestyle. We did move on to a service that optimizes grocery shopping so we can buy ingredients for a week's worth of meals in one shopping trip. Edit: for those who asked, I am using thefresh20 now. It's…

And that makes sense for those living there, but not everyone lives in the Bay Area or pays anything near what people pay there for things. I would think for a service like this to succeed, it needs to be applicable to places where you can go to a real restaurant for ~$10-15 a person. Which is most of the US where the other 315million Americans live.