A Slow-Motion Trainwreck Facing the Meal-Kit Industry • Hacker News Board

Re: A Slow-Motion Trainwreck Facing the Meal-Kit Industry

#221

Post by rconti » Wed, Jun 28, 2017, 12:57 AM UTC

arambhashura wrote: post #108

illumin8 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've tried BlueApron and HelloFresh. I enjoy cooking, and the quality of the recipes is great, but damn, it takes too long to make their recipes. Often, they promise it only takes 15-30 minutes for an entire meal, but apparently I'm not a professional chef who can wash vegetables, dice them, prepare marinades, chop garlic, and do all of this in just a few minutes. I end up usually spending between 60-90 minutes just…

Gobble addresses the prep time. From their FAQ: "You can cook Gobble meals faster than you can order takeout. Your meal will go from kit to table in under 10 minutes." In my experience with around 10 different (vegetarian) dishes from them, I've found that to be somewhat true. Most dishes only required some combination of: an oven (oven heating time not included in the "10 minutes"); a sauce pot for pasta/noodles; a…

We used Blue Apron fairly regularly for almost a year, then stopped. Then my wife signed us up for Gobble which we used fairly regularly for at least 6mo until I took a business trip and then an injury caused us to stop altogether for awhile.

I was MUCH happier with Gobble precisely for the prep reason. Blue Apron meals ALWAYS took easily double the time they listed, and that's with two of us working. I often felt that Blue Apron made the meals needlessly complex and dirtied a needless number of pans just to seem "special" or to be harder for someone to try to replicate on their own.

In both cases, though, I found meats cooked in a pan took at LEAST twice as long cook time as they were supposed to -- and it was always oil splatter up front and on the very of splatter the entire cooking time, and it STILL took way too long --- so its not like my pan wasn't hot enough.

Also, at $60/week for a couple, these are vastly cheaper for us than eating out, and frankly I hate eating out by necessity. As a treat, I love it. But when I just want a meal, it pisses me off to have to choose a restaurant, get there, go through the whole ordering process, wait, go through the whole bill pay process, go home, etc.

Re: A Slow-Motion Trainwreck Facing the Meal-Kit Industry

#222

Post by maxerickson » Wed, Jun 28, 2017, 12:58 AM UTC

pm90 wrote: post #185

criddell wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Granted, the food is much healthier than restaurant food I wouldn't automatically grant that. I cook Blue Apron with my teen-aged kids and it's fantastic. I've become a much better cook while helping them learn how to cook. The recipe cards are a big part of what makes it work for us. I don't always know what medium dice or chop means, but I can pretty much always match what's in the picture.

> I wouldn't automatically grant that. While this deserves qualifications, most of the time restaurant food is simply not as hygienic as meals prepared at home. And its not some deliberate plan to make it so. Despite their best efforts, a somewhat large scale food establishment just allows a lot more opportunities for food contamination. And I say this as a person who eats out everyday (Lunch out, dinner and supper a…

I think I'd trust the random restaurant over the random person that hasn't cooked a whole lot.

I mean, even some little diner sort of has a huge incentive not to make people sick, even if they don't have a health inspector watching over them.

Re: A Slow-Motion Trainwreck Facing the Meal-Kit Industry

#223

Post by geodel » Wed, Jun 28, 2017, 12:58 AM UTC

pm90 wrote: post #154

pjc50 wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> you're not a wifemom, and you don't know how to combine those things into a meal I think people could do this, but for whatever reason don't. Possibly the excessive media-isation of cooking has raised what the expected skill level is; people are no longer content with something edible but unspectacular, or food that's too ugly to Instagram. We've come a long way from Fanny Cradock: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9…

I think you make a good point. Too often people want their food to look good and taste perfect. The key to getting better at cooking and doing it well is to accept that there WILL be accidents, your food WILL NOT taste/look the same as restaurant food right away.

I kind of force myself to eat food cooked by me especially when it turns out bad. So I sometimes forget good tricks/techniques but tend to remember things which definitely don't work.

Re: A Slow-Motion Trainwreck Facing the Meal-Kit Industry

#224

Post by rconti » Wed, Jun 28, 2017, 1:00 AM UTC

inZGBl wrote: post #145

dragonwriter wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But the point has been made several times in this thread, it's not much cheaper. Yes, it is. > Unless you're referring to some Michelin-starred restaurant, it's quite possible to eat fast-casual for the same price of many of these kits (especially if you live in a suburb where restaurants tend to be much cheaper than in e.g. SF) Blue Apron is $8.74 (family plan) or $9.99 (couples plan) per plate for complete dinner…

This doesn't hold true for the rest of America. Go build a chipotle meal at some other zip code. South East: 1 chipotle burrito bowl, chicken, black beans, brown rice, guac, hot salsa, cheese 1 22oz drink Total - $10.20

I thought Chipotle was straight-up fast food, and that's already more expensive than Blue Apron. To me, fast-casual means Chili's, Applebee's, etc. You're talking easily $15/pp without alcohol or tax or tip. Plus at least 90 minutes out of your day to get there, wait for your waiter, get the menu, order, wait, ask for the check, wait, get the check, pay the check, wait for the check to come back, leave, go home.

Re: A Slow-Motion Trainwreck Facing the Meal-Kit Industry

#225

Post by bgribble » Wed, Jun 28, 2017, 1:02 AM UTC

criddell wrote: post #201

pm90 wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I wouldn't automatically grant that. While this deserves qualifications, most of the time restaurant food is simply not as hygienic as meals prepared at home. And its not some deliberate plan to make it so. Despite their best efforts, a somewhat large scale food establishment just allows a lot more opportunities for food contamination. And I say this as a person who eats out everyday (Lunch out, dinner and supper a…

> The only place I can see that really escapes from this is the high end restaurants. Actually, fast food restaurants have some of the best food practices. I'd feel much safer eating at some random McDonald's than some Mom-n-Pop diner.

It's well-known among low budget international travelers (and those that go well off the beaten path) that when s--t gets sketchy you just eat what's deep-fried. Hot enough to fry is hot enough to sterilize. Mickey D is not high culture but it's probably safe wherever you find it.

Re: A Slow-Motion Trainwreck Facing the Meal-Kit Industry

#226

Post by pbreit » Wed, Jun 28, 2017, 1:15 AM UTC

munchbunny wrote: post #128

illumin8 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've tried BlueApron and HelloFresh. I enjoy cooking, and the quality of the recipes is great, but damn, it takes too long to make their recipes. Often, they promise it only takes 15-30 minutes for an entire meal, but apparently I'm not a professional chef who can wash vegetables, dice them, prepare marinades, chop garlic, and do all of this in just a few minutes. I end up usually spending between 60-90 minutes just…

> Often, they promise it only takes 15-30 minutes for an entire meal, but apparently I'm not a professional chef who can wash vegetables, dice them, prepare marinades, chop garlic, and do all of this in just a few minutes. I end up usually spending between 60-90 minutes just to cook a recipe, which is way too much labor for a meal that is already priced about the same as a restaurant meal. I think this is one place w…

People looking for quicker cook time: GoodEggs new kit offering cuts down on time. Ingredients are extremely fresh and you get 3x3 portions for $70. Might be SF-only now.

Re: A Slow-Motion Trainwreck Facing the Meal-Kit Industry

#227

Post by voltagex_ » Wed, Jun 28, 2017, 1:17 AM UTC

science4sail wrote: post #206

_delirium wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Soups are another one of the classic solutions to this problem. A large variety of random leftover ingredients can be mixed-and-matched into a soup, and it solves the stale leftover bread problem too. Plus you can be doing something else while it cooks, as it is not a style of cooking that requires a lot of active attention. And as one more bonus, leftover soup often tastes even better the next day.

Same with stir-fry. A lot of "simpler" cooking methods can be adapted as ways to recycle leftover ingredients.

I eat a huge amount of stir fry, it's how I started cooking. If I ever have to teach someone how to cook, it's what I'll start with - it's really hard to mess up (but watch the salt level!)

Re: A Slow-Motion Trainwreck Facing the Meal-Kit Industry

#228

Post by olleromam91 » Wed, Jun 28, 2017, 1:19 AM UTC

mr_tristan wrote: post #57

The long term trend for "meal kits" is very likely just going to have massive local and regional competition. I'm already seeing this in Portland with several meal delivery services that cater to different lifestyles: gluten free, whole 30, extra protein, etc. These are successful "complete meal delivery" businesses. I see no reason why there can't be "meal kit" variations in the future. The cost of starting up a loc…

"Hey folks, Emeril Lagasi here. With my new meal kit Lagasi@Home, you get all the ingredients and instructions for my favorite recipes. All you have to do is...KICK IT UP A NOTCH!"

Re: A Slow-Motion Trainwreck Facing the Meal-Kit Industry

#229

Post by prawn » Wed, Jun 28, 2017, 1:21 AM UTC

vec wrote: post #209

dragonwriter wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The problem is that such a service has no real hope of taking the place of someone with actual cooking skill who knows you well and will tweak the recipe to your preferences, possibly without you even having to explicitly ask or remind her. My wife and I have used meal-in-a-box services. We both tweak the recipes without reminders. They don't aim to replace a cook, because they still need a cook. They mostly replac…

> The ability to select from a menu of options prior to delivery would be an improvement for many of these services. Hello Fresh, at least, has 8 or so available recipes per week. They'll pick 3 for me, but if I choose I can log in to their site and pick for myself.

Which is probably a good balance. Invest more time if you have it or want to, or run with the defaults.

I tried Hello Fresh and thought it was useful. As a capable cook, it still saved time I'd otherwise spend shopping (30 mins easily if you have a kid in tow) or wondering what to make (on nights I want to cook something new, I will spend 30+ minutes looking at cook books or recipe sites). Someone wanting a less hand-holdy experience could easily ignore the recipes and use it as a mystery box to invent from.

Re: A Slow-Motion Trainwreck Facing the Meal-Kit Industry

#230

Post by just4themoney » Wed, Jun 28, 2017, 1:23 AM UTC

criddell wrote: post #201

pm90 wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I wouldn't automatically grant that. While this deserves qualifications, most of the time restaurant food is simply not as hygienic as meals prepared at home. And its not some deliberate plan to make it so. Despite their best efforts, a somewhat large scale food establishment just allows a lot more opportunities for food contamination. And I say this as a person who eats out everyday (Lunch out, dinner and supper a…

> The only place I can see that really escapes from this is the high end restaurants. Actually, fast food restaurants have some of the best food practices. I'd feel much safer eating at some random McDonald's than some Mom-n-Pop diner.

Right - McDonalds has very specific corporate policies relating to food safety as well as a cleaning schedules, holding times, and the like. At least that's how it was when I worked at Popeyes, I assume that most fast food chains will be similar.