Home food delivery’s questionable value, for consumers and investors • Hacker News Board

Re: Home food delivery’s questionable value, for consumers and investors

#71

Post by p0pcult » Mon, Mar 13, 2023, 4:46 PM UTC

barbazoo wrote: post #61

stametseater wrote: post #41

You know most grocery stores offered a delivery service years before SV decided to turn it into a business model. It was a mostly unadvertised service that grocery stores ran (and likely still do run) mostly for the benefit of 'shut ins', people with disabilities or ailments that prevented them from leaving their homes. The way it worked was pretty simple; you'd call in your order, or sometimes use the store's websit…

> To reiterate, the service was intended for people who couldn't go to the store themselves, not for yuppies. What an odd thing to say. Why should people have to drive and spend their time at the grocery store if the grocery store can do that much more efficiently? Employees pack what looks like dozens of orders at the same time and drive them to the neigborhoods. In a densely populated area I can't imagine that bein…

>Why should people have to drive and spend their time at the grocery store

Because they chose to live somewhere stupid that doesn't have one of life's necessities, food, nearby? Or maybe they haven't figured out how to bundle trips, like going grocery shopping while little Ryder is at soccer practice?

Re: Home food delivery’s questionable value, for consumers and investors

#72

Post by rcme » Mon, Mar 13, 2023, 4:51 PM UTC

culturestate wrote: post #58

rcme wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I usually buy groceries once a week. We typically buy 5 meals worth of food and eat left overs for two days. Thinking of those 5 meals takes about half the time buying groceries does. Personally, I like cooking and I like choosing what to eat. But every once in a while I wish someone would make a menu for me.

> Personally, I like cooking and I like choosing what to eat. So do I. I actually shop for fresh stuff almost daily now, because I mostly work from home and it's a great excuse to get out and wander around the city for a while. That said, the nature of my work is such that I'll often have intense 2-3 week periods of long days that really sap my desire to do anything beyond, like, throwing some sausage and peppers int…

One thing that's crazy about having kids is that you absolutely need a plan for every single meal. 3 meals a day, 7 days a weeks. Having ice cream for dinner is no longer an option, unfortunately.

Re: Home food delivery’s questionable value, for consumers and investors

#73

Post by barbazoo » Mon, Mar 13, 2023, 5:02 PM UTC

p0pcult wrote: post #71

barbazoo wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> To reiterate, the service was intended for people who couldn't go to the store themselves, not for yuppies. What an odd thing to say. Why should people have to drive and spend their time at the grocery store if the grocery store can do that much more efficiently? Employees pack what looks like dozens of orders at the same time and drive them to the neigborhoods. In a densely populated area I can't imagine that bein…

>Why should people have to drive and spend their time at the grocery store Because they chose to live somewhere stupid that doesn't have one of life's necessities, food, nearby? Or maybe they haven't figured out how to bundle trips, like going grocery shopping while little Ryder is at soccer practice?

> Because they chose to live somewhere stupid that doesn't have one of life's necessities, food, nearby?

Wow, so judgmental. I live a ~20 minute bike ride from the grocery store but for a family it's not always feasible to get everything to fit on bikes. It's totally reasonable to drive somewhere once every two weeks for that. It's actually funny, you don't know anything about me or where I live. It's actually very close to what I would consider the perfect balance between having grocery stores in walking or biking distance when we quickly need something and a 5 or so minute drive to the grocery store for bigger shops. Yet I don't have to live in an urban hellhole.

Re: Home food delivery’s questionable value, for consumers and investors

#74

Post by barbazoo » Mon, Mar 13, 2023, 5:05 PM UTC

stametseater wrote: post #68

barbazoo wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> To reiterate, the service was intended for people who couldn't go to the store themselves, not for yuppies. What an odd thing to say. Why should people have to drive and spend their time at the grocery store if the grocery store can do that much more efficiently? Employees pack what looks like dozens of orders at the same time and drive them to the neigborhoods. In a densely populated area I can't imagine that bein…

If you don't want your food to be driven to you, then live in a city. This is what I do, I haven't used my car when grocery shopping for years. If you choose to live in a suburb or rural area, then a car lifestyle is something you've chosen for yourself. > Employees pack what looks like dozens of orders at the same time and drive them to the neigborhoods. This isn't the way it was done with the service I describe. Th…

Yeah that wouldn't make sense then. Here where I live I see the grocery chain "truck" (Mercedes Sprinter size) make frequent stops throughout the neigborhood so I feel like it works out. Seems to be just the right amount of density.

Re: Home food delivery’s questionable value, for consumers and investors

#75

Post by barbazoo » Mon, Mar 13, 2023, 5:08 PM UTC

asveikau wrote: post #67

barbazoo wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> To reiterate, the service was intended for people who couldn't go to the store themselves, not for yuppies. What an odd thing to say. Why should people have to drive and spend their time at the grocery store if the grocery store can do that much more efficiently? Employees pack what looks like dozens of orders at the same time and drive them to the neigborhoods. In a densely populated area I can't imagine that bein…

> Why should people have to drive Want to add, with walkable cities and less car centricism you absolutely don't have to drive. Not meaning to be insensitive to less healthy people who enter into that condition through no fault of their own, but also, perhaps fewer people would be in a position that they are physically unable to shop for groceries if they didn't "have to drive", and got in the exercise of a daily wal…

I shouldn't have said "drive", I could also walk to a corner store or bike to the grocery store but unless you're single or you only buy what you need immediately you need something else. I can't buy groceries for 2 weeks for a family and haul them back on foot or bike. And that's as often as I want to go to a grocery store, max. And as I said, getting that amount of groceries delivered is even better and at the same time this is so much more energy efficient and so much less wasteful than getting these "meal prep" kits. They just don't make sense.

Re: Home food delivery’s questionable value, for consumers and investors

#76

Post by JohnFen » Mon, Mar 13, 2023, 5:15 PM UTC

I really only have two issues with HelloFresh. The first is their claim that they're more environmentally friendly than cooking at home is disingenuous at best.

The second isn't really a fault with HelloFresh (and similar), but an incompatibility with my own preferences. I prefer to get my food as locally as possible, and these meal services preclude doing that.

Also, these services are (IMO) outrageously expensive.

Re: Home food delivery’s questionable value, for consumers and investors

#77

Post by JohnFen » Mon, Mar 13, 2023, 5:21 PM UTC

barbazoo wrote: post #75

asveikau wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why should people have to drive Want to add, with walkable cities and less car centricism you absolutely don't have to drive. Not meaning to be insensitive to less healthy people who enter into that condition through no fault of their own, but also, perhaps fewer people would be in a position that they are physically unable to shop for groceries if they didn't "have to drive", and got in the exercise of a daily wal…

I shouldn't have said "drive", I could also walk to a corner store or bike to the grocery store but unless you're single or you only buy what you need immediately you need something else. I can't buy groceries for 2 weeks for a family and haul them back on foot or bike. And that's as often as I want to go to a grocery store, max. And as I said, getting that amount of groceries delivered is even better and at the same…

> I can't buy groceries for 2 weeks for a family and haul them back on foot or bike.

Why not? On foot might be a bit much, but on a bike, with a trailer, this isn't hard at all.

Re: Home food delivery’s questionable value, for consumers and investors

#78

Post by JohnFen » Mon, Mar 13, 2023, 5:25 PM UTC

CadmiumYellow wrote: post #60

c-fe wrote: post #26

I dont like the concept of home food delivery. Personally, I just like to go to grocery stores or markets, buy whatever is on offer and then make meals at home. I am disgusted by the amount of trash generated when receiving your single onion in a package each day instead of buying a large pack of onions once a month and using those. But even if I wanted to avoid groceries and avoid food prep, I would just order food…

I love grocery shopping! I don't get why people hate it so much. It's fun to go to the store and see what new produce or interesting ingredients they have on any given day...maybe something catches my eye and I get inspired to cook a new recipe around it. At the very least I like picking out my own produce. When I had covid I had to order groceries on Instacart and they always seemed to pick out the smallest, most br…

I hate everything about grocery shopping, to be honest. My goal is to get in and out as quickly as humanly possible.

But I do it because I haven't found a better option (I don't consider things like HelloFresh a better option).

> At the very least I like picking out my own produce.

So much this. I want to be able to see it before making a purchasing decision.

Re: Home food delivery’s questionable value, for consumers and investors

#79

Post by asveikau » Mon, Mar 13, 2023, 5:26 PM UTC

barbazoo wrote: post #75

asveikau wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why should people have to drive Want to add, with walkable cities and less car centricism you absolutely don't have to drive. Not meaning to be insensitive to less healthy people who enter into that condition through no fault of their own, but also, perhaps fewer people would be in a position that they are physically unable to shop for groceries if they didn't "have to drive", and got in the exercise of a daily wal…

I shouldn't have said "drive", I could also walk to a corner store or bike to the grocery store but unless you're single or you only buy what you need immediately you need something else. I can't buy groceries for 2 weeks for a family and haul them back on foot or bike. And that's as often as I want to go to a grocery store, max. And as I said, getting that amount of groceries delivered is even better and at the same…

I'm a father of two. I'm really tired of seeing this "once you have a family you'll see you need to drive everywhere" thing. It is not so inevitable, it is a choice; it's kind of the default choice for many in the US, sure, but it doesn't need to be so.

You're thinking about it kind of wrong. You don't need to fill a huge fucking jeep with groceries for the month. You make it part of your daily routine to get a little at each trip. The store is already close to where you will be.

Re: Home food delivery’s questionable value, for consumers and investors

#80

Post by punyearthling » Mon, Mar 13, 2023, 5:35 PM UTC

rcme wrote: post #28

culturestate wrote: post #16

My biggest gripe with HelloFresh, et al is that I still need to do the prep, so they don't actually save me much time. It's nothing more than curated grocery delivery. Years ago, there was a service in Hong Kong (I wish I could remember the name) that did daily delivery of already prepped meal kits - onions pre-chopped, avocados cubed, oil portioned for each step, etc. It was basically cooking by numbers, and extraor…

I usually buy groceries once a week. We typically buy 5 meals worth of food and eat left overs for two days. Thinking of those 5 meals takes about half the time buying groceries does. Personally, I like cooking and I like choosing what to eat. But every once in a while I wish someone would make a menu for me.

ChatGPT can do this very well.