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A Slow-Motion Trainwreck Facing the Meal-Kit Industry

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

#61

Post by wrsh07 »

wrsh07 wrote: post #58
Mz wrote: post #10

I feel like the real problem with meal-in-a-box delivery services is that they are trying to fill the empty shoes of a missing full-time wife and mom because there are more two career couples and both spouses now "need a wife" and it can't be found. 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 preferen…

As a subscriber, here are some arguments in favor of Blue Apron [or similar services]: 1) It's cheaper / healthier than eating at most restaurants [where I live, in Upper Manhattan] 2) The nearest grocery stores also aren't cheap. If I could save money, it would cost me a significant amount of time. [the lines at Trader Joe's alone, not to mention meal-planning + time to & from store]. 3) Some items are hard to buy i…

Also, something I've thought about a lot since listening to this 99pi episode [2] is that technology is best when it enhances useful skills. [or at least doesn't atrophy them]

I think that services like Blue Apron are actually kind of ingenious in that they trivialize an annoying part of cooking [the shopping] while developing the "skill" part.

On top of that, I think just using good ingredients helps you identify what to look for in stores - making you better at that aspect, too [without having to practice the "standing in line" bit]

It's a little tidbit I've always liked about Blue Apron.

[2]: http://99percentinvisible.org/episode/children-of-the-magent... -- it's two parts.

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

#62

Post by opportune »

Mz wrote: post #51
opportune wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you read what I wrote? Of course I acknowledge that this is not feasible yet. I'm saying that this is the product that the market is actually waiting for, and that the technology isn't there yet (automated drone delivery). So what we have in the meantime are awkward solutions that only meet a few of these requirements.

I don't think what you wrote will ever be feasible. I am a big fan of the Chipotle model where you get to pick what you want as you order it and it is prepared fresh, but, unlike a buffet, only the staff handle the food, not a jillion grubby customers pawing through it. And that tends to be a bit pricier than fast food. I can get something to eat at Chipotle for $5 or less. You don't actually have to order an $8 burr…

I don't think you're thinking enough outside of the box. There's no reason that your burrito needs to be made individually by a person. See my reply to the other person that replied to the same comment: different distribution models allow much better economies of scale because you can centralized the preparation stage.

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

#63

Post by kbenson »

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…

Not to mention, if you're really local, you can beat out the competition in freshness and probably delivery costs as well (beyond a certain critical threshold of local customers at least). It's the resurgence of the milkman.

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

#64

Post by Mz »

opportune wrote: post #62
Mz wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think what you wrote will ever be feasible. I am a big fan of the Chipotle model where you get to pick what you want as you order it and it is prepared fresh, but, unlike a buffet, only the staff handle the food, not a jillion grubby customers pawing through it. And that tends to be a bit pricier than fast food. I can get something to eat at Chipotle for $5 or less. You don't actually have to order an $8 burr…

I don't think you're thinking enough outside of the box. There's no reason that your burrito needs to be made individually by a person. See my reply to the other person that replied to the same comment: different distribution models allow much better economies of scale because you can centralized the preparation stage.

From your two comments:

a service that can deliver fresh or at least reasonably high quality food, which is customizable to individual preferences

I'm envisioning a facility tied to an Amazon warehouse or something similar that might be preparing food for >10000 people every day

I really don't see these two things being reconcilable. I eat at eateries very regularly and I become a "regular customer" and people know my name and become familiar with the tweaks I am going to make to my order. Over time, preferences of mine get learned by regular staff.

I don't think AI is anywhere near that point. There are a thousand small things going on that you would have to think to program into the AI and probably wouldn't without deploying and iterating.

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

#65

Post by jpindar »

Symbiote wrote: post #34
luckydata wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The kits have a value beyond the food, they teach you how to be more confident about your cooking. Americans are terrible cooks on average, they don't learn good cooking skills at home because their parents are not very good cooks either (gross generalization but accurate if you compare the US with for example Italy). My wife now can cook a much wider variety of meals after a few months of meal kits. It also has redu…

When I was a student, the local Sainsbury's supermarket had a selection of recipe cards by the entrance. Here's the front of a newer version [1], the back is presumably something like this [2]. I wouldn't say they taught me to cook, I didn't learn any new techniques. But, I did get a lot of ideas from them, and it led us to eating a wider variety of food. I'm now curious -- what do typical American university student…

There's cooking and there's cooking.

Most Americans, including students, cook standard American food such as hamburgers, hot dogs, eggs, spaghetti, roast chicken, ramen, steak etc., as well as a lot of canned soups, frozen vegetables, and boxed casserole mixes.

But these kits are for people who want to eat something novel every meal, and certainly not mundane working class food. I mean, you don't need a recipe for a hamburger.

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

#66

Post by throwaway91111 »

saturdaysaint wrote: post #54
Mz wrote: post #10

I feel like the real problem with meal-in-a-box delivery services is that they are trying to fill the empty shoes of a missing full-time wife and mom because there are more two career couples and both spouses now "need a wife" and it can't be found. 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 preferen…

Granted, you have to spend about 30 - 40 minutes in the kitchen, but I find Hello Fresh meals to be consistently superior on just about every level to most restaurant food anywhere near its price point, and much healthier to boot. This shocked me at first, but when you think about it, even most "pretty good" restaurant food is designed to be thrown together in 5 - 10 minutes using as few ingredients as possible. Also…

I mean, most food doesn't take too long to cook, and the bulk of the work is just prep, which is amortized by the kitchen.

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

#67

Post by opportune »

Mz wrote: post #64
opportune wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think you're thinking enough outside of the box. There's no reason that your burrito needs to be made individually by a person. See my reply to the other person that replied to the same comment: different distribution models allow much better economies of scale because you can centralized the preparation stage.

From your two comments: a service that can deliver fresh or at least reasonably high quality food, which is customizable to individual preferences I'm envisioning a facility tied to an Amazon warehouse or something similar that might be preparing food for >10000 people every day I really don't see these two things being reconcilable. I eat at eateries very regularly and I become a "regular customer" and people know m…

You and I have different definitions of high quality then. I am thinking of the kind of food produced at the Googleplex or at a similar facility, except with slightly more choice. I would wager most would view this similarly, since most people (at least nobody I know) aren't gourmands with personal relationships at where they eat. I'm not talking about a premium restaurant experience, more like restaurant takeout a la ubereats but without the prohibitively high cost.

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

#68

Post by frandroid »

wrsh07 wrote: post #59
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…

FWIW, after > 2 years on plans like this, either my wife or I can usually cook in the amount of time specified, and together we consistently hit the low-end. I'm not sure at what point we got this efficient, and our kitchen is also easy-to-work in. [I don't imagine that's the case for lots of apt-dwellers] I think you're definitely right that there will be a significant amount of automation that will be able to make…

> together we consistently hit the low-end.

But that's two people, so really you just hit double the low end?

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

#69

Post by JustSomeNobody »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #14
Mz wrote: post #10

I feel like the real problem with meal-in-a-box delivery services is that they are trying to fill the empty shoes of a missing full-time wife and mom because there are more two career couples and both spouses now "need a wife" and it can't be found. 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 preferen…

> If you can afford a meal-in-a-box service, why would you not just go to a restaurant where the wait staff will do a decent job as a substitute for your own live-in cook previously known as The Wife? I always say that these are for people with more money than time. The reason they don't go to a restaurant is because you like cooking - or at least, you like the idea of being someone who cooks. But the ad copy is righ…

Create a wiki and add a few recipes. Create a shopping list from those. Then make those recipes during the week. Work up to around 4 or 5 recipes per week. After a good 6 or 8 weeks, you'll have a pretty good rotation of menus and shopping lists. When you have a good shopping list, you can knock out shopping in a hurry. If you have a good set of recipes that you like, you will get used to making them and it will go faster after a while.

After a few rotations of the 6 or 8 weeks of menus, swap in some fresh recipes to try. eventually you can add the ones you like to create a longer rotation.

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

#70

Post by Mz »

opportune wrote: post #67
Mz wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From your two comments: a service that can deliver fresh or at least reasonably high quality food, which is customizable to individual preferences I'm envisioning a facility tied to an Amazon warehouse or something similar that might be preparing food for >10000 people every day I really don't see these two things being reconcilable. I eat at eateries very regularly and I become a "regular customer" and people know m…

You and I have different definitions of high quality then. I am thinking of the kind of food produced at the Googleplex or at a similar facility, except with slightly more choice. I would wager most would view this similarly, since most people (at least nobody I know) aren't gourmands with personal relationships at where they eat. I'm not talking about a premium restaurant experience, more like restaurant takeout a l…

I don't have the money for premium restaurants. I'm quite poor. But I am a gourmand and tend to have personal relationships with people where I eat regularly. Guilty as charged.

So, um, yeah, it sounds like your idea of quality food and mine are not at all on the same page. I think there are ways to get quality food at a reasonable price (I think this because of the aforementioned not wealthy status and years of eating well anyway), but I have serious trouble imagining that a meal-in-a-box delivery service would be it and I have difficulty imagining your idea would be it either.

But thank you for clarifying.

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