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Comment by jimmywanger | Hacker News Reader

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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Ultimately, they're hamstrung by the fact that by nature of their business, they have to limit selection. I haven't encountered a single set of recipes from Blue Apron that didn't contain at least one that I absolutely hate, taste wise - and that's what I hear from others as well.

So what they do is, they teach you how to cook. At some point, you'll lose the fear of it (because it really isn't hard). The moment you add the first ingredient of your own, just because you like it, you're pretty much lost to them.

The one useful pivot I could see - but where I can't see the feasibility - is you picking recipes a la carte, and they ship the ingredients prepped. (That's where the major time sink is - and people are always willing to pay to get back time).

That requires a huge number of customers, figuring out how to keep prepped materials fresh, and tremendous automation to be possible. It's a far cry from "we ship these 6 meal kits to you"

The tough part seems to be the commoditization of the product. Someone else posted a video with a decent analysis but that only touched on the real problem. When Amazon bought Whole Foods, the game changed. This market can only make it so far on nice packaging and creative recipes it appears, so when the inevitable race to the bottom happens, the big players in low prices like Amazon will always win since there isnt enough to differentiate the product to justify the price.

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.

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.

How could you forget stamps.com?

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