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Blue Apron Files for IPO

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Re: Blue Apron Files for IPO

#31

Post by schraitle »

spike021 wrote: post #7
leftnode wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We canceled after a week precisely for this reason. I couldn't believe how much trash a single shipment generated.

what's a single shipment typically composed of? Curious since I was thinking of trying it. Do you mean like cardboard/plastic packaging? I was thinking materials would come in re-usable container. Not fancy, but even somewhat "cheapy" re-usable material.

Lots of individual plastic bags, but they are recyclable in the giant plastic bag recycling box at the grocery store. We would just stuff them all into a larger bag for storage and drop it all off next time we actually went to the store.

Re: Blue Apron Files for IPO

#32

Post by glup »

I hear a lot of my friends trying Blue Apron, but then canceling because of the 1) excessive packaging 2) excessive salt/sodium content 3) sudden inspiration to just go to a grocery store and learn more about cooking in general. For those of you on HN who have done BA for more than a year, what are your experiences? How do you balance it with other food sources (groceries, delivery food, going out, other services)?

Re: Blue Apron Files for IPO

#33

Post by groby_b »

paulcole wrote: post #16
seibelj wrote: post #5

There is a lot of hate for this company on HN. They are trying to help people cook healthy food, they are doing a good thing, and have an actual product. Good for them! And I hope the engineers / common workers get some money too :)

>They are trying to help people cook healthy food, they are doing a good thing I don't think the idea that they're "doing a good thing" is so cut and dry. Aren't they producing an astounding amount of waste? And aren't the working conditions uncomfortable at best? https://www.buzzfeed.com/carolineodonovan/the-not-so-wholeso...

Let's not forget the astonishing amount of dark patterns in their UI. Cancelling your Blue Apron account is... quite the experience.

(Not to mention their food model seems to be "30% is crap we need to get rid of, and you will buy it")

Re: Blue Apron Files for IPO

#35

Post by teen »

giobox wrote: post #22
jmeyers44 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have evidence that a meal kit produces more "trash" than the packaging required to ship all of the included products to a store? Additionally, your argument is incomplete without addressing the efficiencies that meal kit companies gain by limiting food waste. The real question is what provides a more efficient food system, a grocery store or a meal kit?

I'd love to see a proper study as well. Every argument I've ever seen against these meals in a box services regarding trash, including the ones I've read in this thread, are entirely based on individual personal anecdotes. Superficially I can see the appeal of arguing based on the packaging you receive, but this fails to account for recycling options, and ignores aspects like the avoidance of food wastage given the p…

Ofc it's going to be anecdotal. But that doesn't mean it's not true. 12 eggs indivially wrapped vs a dozen. 1 green onion in a plastic bag instead of a few in a smaller grocery plastic bag. Individual plastic bottles to hold 3 tablespoons of vinegar.

Re: Blue Apron Files for IPO

#36

Post by nilkn »

paulcole wrote: post #16
seibelj wrote: post #5

There is a lot of hate for this company on HN. They are trying to help people cook healthy food, they are doing a good thing, and have an actual product. Good for them! And I hope the engineers / common workers get some money too :)

>They are trying to help people cook healthy food, they are doing a good thing I don't think the idea that they're "doing a good thing" is so cut and dry. Aren't they producing an astounding amount of waste? And aren't the working conditions uncomfortable at best? https://www.buzzfeed.com/carolineodonovan/the-not-so-wholeso...

I've subscribed to Blue Apron before and, regarding waste, it doesn't seem much different from going to the grocery store. Meat ingredients like chicken breast, salmon, and beef are individually wrapped exactly like they are in the store. Blue Apron doesn't wrap all their produce (but they do wrap some of it); most people I know use a lot of plastic bags for produce when going to the grocery, so that's a small difference in favor of Blue Apron. The cardboard box it comes in is of course recyclable.

Miscellaneous knick knacks for the recipes come in small recyclable paper bags which certainly are made of less material than large grocery store bags.

The only other things I can think of are very small plastic containers for fluids like soy sauce and the ice packs.

Overall I wouldn't be surprised if Blue Apron is slightly more wasteful than going to the store, but it's a small difference at best, at least as far as basic packaging goes.

Re: Blue Apron Files for IPO

#37

Post by jordache »

seibelj wrote: post #5

There is a lot of hate for this company on HN. They are trying to help people cook healthy food, they are doing a good thing, and have an actual product. Good for them! And I hope the engineers / common workers get some money too :)

Juicero is doing a good thing with an actual product too!

"Our connected Press itself is critical to delivering a consistent, high quality and food safe product because it provides: The first closed loop food safety system that allows us to remotely disable Produce Packs if there is, for example, a spinach recall. In these scenarios, we’re able to protect our consumers in real-time. Consistent pressing of our Produce Packs calibrated by flavor to deliver the best combination of taste and nutrition every time. Connected data so we can manage a very tight supply chain, because our product is live, raw produce, and has a limited lifespan of about 8 days."

- Juicero CEO

Re: Blue Apron Files for IPO

#38

Post by sushisource »

glup wrote: post #32

I hear a lot of my friends trying Blue Apron, but then canceling because of the 1) excessive packaging 2) excessive salt/sodium content 3) sudden inspiration to just go to a grocery store and learn more about cooking in general. For those of you on HN who have done BA for more than a year, what are your experiences? How do you balance it with other food sources (groceries, delivery food, going out, other services)?

I just do it once a month. I really wish they would have an option to do that, instead of forcing me to go on the website once a month and cancel everything except one week.

I like it because it's a good way to cook things I might not decide to make otherwise.

Complaint #2 makes no sense to me. You add all your own salt. If they want less salt, add less salt.

Re: Blue Apron Files for IPO

#39

Post by nostrademons »

jonaf wrote: post #23

I'm shocked to see an IPO for one of these delivery companies. Not because there doesn't seem to be a value proposition, but because I don't understand what sets them apart from the competition. They seem to be in a flooded market: Plated, HelloFresh, I think I've seen commercials for a few more, and they seem to barely add value on top of another flooded market, grocery delivery: instacart, uber has a service like t…

Capital. The more money you raise, the longer you last at gambler's ruin. Hence why they're IPOing.

Re: Blue Apron Files for IPO

#40

Post by giobox »

teen wrote: post #35
giobox wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd love to see a proper study as well. Every argument I've ever seen against these meals in a box services regarding trash, including the ones I've read in this thread, are entirely based on individual personal anecdotes. Superficially I can see the appeal of arguing based on the packaging you receive, but this fails to account for recycling options, and ignores aspects like the avoidance of food wastage given the p…

Ofc it's going to be anecdotal. But that doesn't mean it's not true. 12 eggs indivially wrapped vs a dozen. 1 green onion in a plastic bag instead of a few in a smaller grocery plastic bag. Individual plastic bottles to hold 3 tablespoons of vinegar.

I'm not arguing it isn't true at all - just saying that anecdotes alone aren't going to prove this one way or another, at least not to my satisfaction.

> Ofc it's going to be anecdotal

Not really. People link to studies/research here frequently in comments.

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