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A comment on Blue Apron lays off more workers. Parent comment

Re:Blue Apron lays off more workers by SonicSoul on Wednesday November 14, 2018 @08:35AM (#18449707)
I believe they’re solving a real problem. For people that want a healthy meal but don’t want to spend $ on farm to table type restaurant. Although I do see quite a few more healthy options sprouting up in NYC I can’t speak for more suburban areas. Point being is a lot people care about ingredients, food prep (i.e. those brussel sprouts are not that healthy if cooked in re-used vegetable oil).

The tricky part with this business model is making the food taste good is an art form and not easy to boil down to a simple 9 step formula. Also difficult is keeping all the ingredients fresh and portioned / ready to cook while keeping the price lower than it would be to go out and eat.

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Re:Blue Apron lays off more workers by WhompingWindows on Wednesday November 14, 2018 @09:21AM (#18449966)
You don't save that much, especially after the cheap trial. If you know what you're doing, a run to the grocery store will actually be much cheaper. I think it's more for people who want a home-cooked meal but don't want to go shopping or find a recipe.
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Re:Blue Apron lays off more workers by acdha on Wednesday November 14, 2018 @09:26AM (#18450007)
We were a great example: some family members gave us a Green Chef subscription while we were both home on parental leave and it was a great way to eat better while having very little free time / energy.
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Re:Blue Apron lays off more workers by SonicSoul on Wednesday November 14, 2018 @10:03AM (#18450297)
I don't believe savings is the primary goal.

to me main benefits are:

> control of food prep

> control of ingredients

> having ultra fresh cooked meal

> less packaging waste ?

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Re:Blue Apron lays off more workers by acdha on Wednesday November 14, 2018 @09:25AM (#18449995)
I don't think the question is whether they're solving a problem but how profitable the market is: VC bubble thinking tends to chase high-margin businesses but this seems like something where anyone in it long-term will need to be comfortable with far more modest margins similar to what the restaurant industry has, especially since they can't make up a low-profit entree by selling high-profit alcohol and soda.
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