Blue Apron lays off more workers

Re:Blue Apron lays off more workers by ryanmercer on Wednesday November 14, 2018 @06:26AM (#18449096)

I think a bigger problem which these services is that you're paying outrageous amounts. Blue Apron is like 9.99$ a meal, you're paying more than a dollar per 100 kcals which is insanity and then you have to spend 15-30 minutes preparing it, I can throw 8$ of chicken in the instant pot with some dry seasoning and 25 minutes later I've got pulled chicken for a week I can then rinse it out and throw in 3$ of black beans and have black beans for a week.

Most Americans can't afford 10$ per person per meal. Hell, the minimum wage here in Indiana is 7.25$, if you're lucky at retail you might be making 9$, average household income is $45,943 in Indiana, even just one person earning that you're taking home 35,482$ a year which is about 97$ a day which makes just 1 of these meals a day 10.2% of your net income.

The problem is, people try and apply Bay Area lifestyle to the rest of the country.

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Re:Blue Apron lays off more workers by matwood on Wednesday November 14, 2018 @07:49AM (#18449437)

Not only that, but for $10/serving I can usually find a good cut (filet or ribeye) of steak on sale and a fresh veggie like asparagus. If I want to save money, chicken breast are on a permanent sale of 1.99/pound at my local grocery.

I tried BA, and while it was convenient I never felt I was getting the best quality or enough food for the price. I do have a lot of recipe cards that I still use though.

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Re:Blue Apron lays off more workers by dagw on Wednesday November 14, 2018 @08:30AM (#18449677)

Totally off topic, but I can never quite get over how ridiculously cheap food is in the US.

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Re:Blue Apron lays off more workers by ryanmercer on Wednesday November 14, 2018 @08:53AM (#18449820)

> but I can never quite get over how ridiculously cheap food is in the US.

Keep in mind there's a LOT of subsidies for farmers and livestock. Part of the price is because it's baked into our taxes.

Granted, we also have more than 900 million acres of farm land. That's more than 1.4 million square miles. For perspective only 6 countries are larger than that in total land area (7 if you include the U.S.)

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Re:Blue Apron lays off more workers by dsfyu404ed on Wednesday November 14, 2018 @09:47AM (#18450158)

>Part of the price is because it's baked into our taxes.

Which are also cheap compared to Europe.

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Re:Blue Apron lays off more workers by lunchables on Wednesday November 14, 2018 @08:49AM (#18449801)

Food, gas, you name it -- it is all incredibly cheap. Plus comparatively low tax rates and high salaries, especially for tech workers.

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Re:Blue Apron lays off more workers by rsynnott on Wednesday November 14, 2018 @10:14AM (#18450387)

I don't think it's all food. I was in the US recently, and while meat and processed food was far cheaper than at home (Ireland), fruit and vegetables were mostly weirdly expensive. I have no idea why.

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Re:Blue Apron lays off more workers by lunchables on Wednesday November 14, 2018 @08:48AM (#18449789)

>I do have a lot of recipe cards that I still use though.

Same, and a couple years of Blue Apron was an incredible cooking training for me. It required me to look up how to prep all those ingredients. And just learning temperatures, how to use knives, how to operate efficiently in the kitchen, what tools you ACTUALLY need to purchase, all things that just take tons of practice I was able to get a pretty solid handle on.

I really feel comfortable in the kitchen after a couple years of Blue Apron.

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