
Cash-Burn Threatens Blue Apron 3.5 Months After IPO - Cbasedlifeform
https://wolfstreet.com/2017/10/18/cash-burn-threatens-blue-apron-3-5-months-after-ipo/
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emodendroket
I just don't know where all this demand is for single-serving meals you cook
yourself but that are priced like restaurant meals.

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ben174
"Teach a man to fish." I've learned a lot of good recipes from services like
Blue Apron. Having the ingredients prepped the first time you embark on a new
recipe makes it way more approachable.

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sbov
I kinda do the reverse. When I'm at the store, I buy a couple random things.
Then I go online to find a recipe.

If I can't find something, at the end of the day, pretty much any piece of
food seasoned and grilled will taste good.

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mercer
For some reason I never thought of doing this. Although I suppose you don't
buy _entirely_ random things, right? Any advice for someone like me who
doesn't cook much?

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notyourday
Build a small pantry ( pasta - multiple shapes, canned beans - multiple kinds,
dried mushrooms, rice, couscous, grains that you like )

Get spices ( garlic powder, coriander - whole, paprika, cumin, turmeric, chili
powder, ginger powder - the rest is up to you)

Buy a container of chicken or vegetable stock - after you open it and whatever
you do not use freeze the rest. Next time just thaw it and use it again.

Soy sauce, vinegar (balsamic and rice ), sriracha, any-other-stuff-that you
happen to have, olive oil.

When you have this on your way from work go to a store on a way:

Give yourself a strict ten minutes to get stuff. Decide what protein you want.
Get it. Go to vegetables. Pick one thing that is familiar and one thing that
is not that familiar. Get them. Get a single bunch of herbs. Herbs make
everything better. If you do not have an onion, a tomato, a head of garlic,
get it.

Ten minute limit would force you just to "grab stuff" rather than fixate on
all kinds of blockers.

Go home, google "Fast and easy <protein> with <vegetable> skillet". Follow
directions like a guideline for your CRUD application.

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razvanh
My problem with blue apron is with all the waste/trash generated by their
packaging. I tried their services and the recipes were ok — although for
someone that likes to cook or is a more experienced cook, their service is not
worth it.

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empath75
It seems pretty crazy that a grocery store chain hasn’t implemented a service
like that where you can pick it up on the way home for less money and with
less waste.

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ballenf
I would guess that grocery stores have been hesitant to implement any new
model which allows customers to avoid the high margin checkout item goods and
high margin prepared foods. The web order / quick pickup model shows they are
slowly coming around in some ways, however.

For the model you describe to work, they'd have to charge quite a bit more for
the ingredients that one would pay simply buying them yourself (or, again,
totally forgo the prepared food high margins). Premium prices for "ingredients
+ recipe card" would trigger price inflation complaints from mainstream
shoppers who aren't comparing the option to blue apron but taking an extra 15
minutes to get the items themselves.

What's that term for the profits an established player has to sacrifice to
compete in a new market?

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ceejayoz
These _are_ high-margin prepared foods.

Wegmans, for example, sells pre-chopped, single-portion portions of steaks,
vegetables, grains, etc. (even pasta - pre-boiled angel hair at $9.99/lb that
you could get for $0.79 in a box!) as well as ready-to-cook meals that you
just throw into the oven/pan and follow a few simple directions.

They also offer "personal shopping" services, where they'll pick out groceries
and you just pull your car up... and they're testing out an Instacart
partnership at the moment for home delivery.

Grocery stores are _on it_.

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kenoyer130
My wife's comment was "I can get all these ingredients at the local super
market and there is a lot of prep work". If Blue apron or a like service had
all the food ready to go into the oven/microwave we would of stuck with it.
Since she still had to do all the chopping and prepping, it was a waste of
time.

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Klathmon
That's like saying "if puzzles came already put together people would buy
more".

They are marketing their product at people that want to do the prep, the
cooking, the whole deal, but don't know where to begin. I loved my few Blue
Apron boxes that I got. It was exactly what I expected and wanted.

There is a market for what you describe, but it's not what they are trying to
solve.

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gehwartzen
The thing is that model can be solved with a simple rescipe app that tells you
what to buy and how to make it. A lot of grocery stores even have pickup.

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Klathmon
I'm not saying it's impossible to do any other way, but for me it was perfect.

I could download some recipes online, then go buy the stuff. But then I end up
with a whole jar of hoisin sauce that I'll never use again because I didn't
really like it, or 2x the ground chicken that I don't know what to do with
now.

With the "recipe in a box" style things, they give you what you need, AND how
to make it. I used it like a trial. Of the food I got over the like 6 total
times I got it, I liked about 10 of the recipes (they give you 3 meals with
each box), and we continue to make about 4 of them on a regular basis.

The "regular" ones we now go to the grocery store for, because now we know how
much to get, what we can use it for, how long it will store, and where to get
it.

I'm sad it sounds like this might not be a sustainable business model, as it
was a really nice thing for us, and we do want to do it again at some point.

I guess the closest "traditional" thing to it would be like going to a cooking
class. But this was cheaper, at home, and had much more variety.

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ben174
I found this case study video to be a good summary of what went wrong with
Blue Apron:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpQkAEei08w](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpQkAEei08w)

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jobu
Great analysis!

Why the hell did Blue Apron buy a ranch?
[https://youtu.be/UpQkAEei08w?t=10m59s](https://youtu.be/UpQkAEei08w?t=10m59s)

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jrs235
Someone thought going vertical was a good idea. Which might be after you're
mature and profitable and going vertical can be shown to reduce costs. Someone
got ahead of themselves though. Now they are beholdened to the cost of the
ranch raised meat. What if it's more than other suppliers?!

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toomuchtodo
Spin the ranch off as an upscale brand.

"Blue Apron Reserve", "Blue Apron Farm To Table", etc.

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jrs235
Which makes sense, once you've nailed down what you need to be good at and
profitable. It's sounds like a good idea and differentiator, but it seems like
a premature pivot too.

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rootedbox
Blue Apron has multiple problems. 1. Once they teach you cooking isn't hard
you will do it on your own. 2. Most grocery stores of all levels have meal
kits now. 3. If you buy a mandolin(knife skills are for tv shows and culinary
school) and safety glove you can go from raw not chopped ingredients to plated
hot meal in under 20 minutes..

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djrogers
> If you buy a mandolin(knife skills are for tv shows and culinary school)

I’m happy that a mandolin is working for you, but there is a lot more to knife
skills than slicing - there are a lot of foods and cuts that a mandolin can’t
do, and they aren’t difficult or unsafe. As long as you don’t feel a need to
be as fast as a line chef, you can do pretty much any cut with about 5 minutes
of practice.

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jimmywanger
I forgot where I read this, but Blue Apron spends a _ton_ on customer
acquisition, though non-traditional media channels.

I listen to several podcasts (Bill Burr and Joe Rogan represent) and every
single episode they got an ad plugging Blue Apron - except they recently
yanked their spots on Burr's podcast because he joked around too much.

They're probably banking on LTV of their customers, but it just doesn't make
sense when a lot of your customers cancel after 6 months and it costs 400
dollars in marketing expenses to acquire each one.

I just don't see a sustainable business model. The food industry is remarkably
cutthroat, and the margins are already razor thin, even for a restaurant.

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tdeck
Blue Apron seems to have advertised on almost every single one of the 20+
podcasts I listen to. They share that distinction with the razor delivery
companies (Harry's and DSC), Casper, and Nature Box. No matter the podcast or
subject matter it always seems to be the same companies.

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Cbasedlifeform
Ditto that. I listen to a variety of podcasts (politics, comedy, tech) and it
is the same four or five adverts. Harry's probably most of all.

As for Blue Apron itself, I recently discovered the pleasures of cooking and
for me it is almost a therapy (and I listen to podcasts while I cook, in fact
:) but I have a bit more free time than many people. I could appreciate the
convenience of the delivery and the recipes but as others have noted the
amount of packaging waste is absurd. And once people start cooking they'll
quickly realise how easy (and tasty) it can be.

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Animats
_If you have $1 billion in sales and you cannot make money, when can you make
money?_

A good question for Uber investors.

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emodendroket
I guess in that case the plan is after their money-losing prices drive
competitors out of business and they can cut out the drivers with advances in
autonomous driving. Both far from assured, in my opinion.

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chrisgd
With Kroger clicklist, instacart, amazon fresh, etc. I don't see the need for
this. I need more companies that auto order from kroger click list my recipe
selections.

I also really like freshly that delivers fresh, ready to heat blue arpon
quality meals (high end tv dinners, but never frozen)

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thearn4
Any opinions or predictions for the alternative meal prep box services, like
Hello Fresh etc. ?

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adrianpike
We use Hello Fresh. They're still iterating on the logistics side on a weekly
basis - different shipments may use totally different packing materials.
Initially there was a _ton_ of packing material waste every week, now it's way
down. Big plus.

They're starting to cross-sell with wine pairings, which makes me think
they're needing to drive LTV.

The problem I see is they haven't managed to build anything defensive. I've
got not real brand loyalty, they're not capturing much information about my
meal preferences other than what I order, and we're starting to get repeated
meals. We'll probably cancel before the end of the year, even though it's been
an enjoyable subscription overall to date.

I'm not bullish on 'em, but would love to be proven wrong. :)

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soVeryTired
Gusto is just as good

