Jumping into the grocery aisle, Blue Apron surprises everyone and stays in business

Blue Apron, the grizzled veteran of the meal-kit delivery space, reported better-than-expected earnings, sending shares up 9% yesterday. To be clear, the chain didn’t make more than it expected, it ...

Blue Apron, the grizzled veteran of the meal-kit delivery space, reported better-than-expected earnings, sending shares up 9% yesterday.

Jumping into the grocery aisle, Blue Apron surprises everyone and stays in business

To be clear, the chain didn’t make more than it expected, it just lost less. But for the dirty Apron, whose value was in free fall just months ago, this stability is a win — even if it means a trip to the supermarket.

A lot of the produce(rs) in meal delivery will go rotten

For meal-kit delivery startups, the cart is full. To stay competitive, many companies offer free first deliveries to incentivize new customers — operating at a loss to do so. 

But even the hungriest of meal-kit startups could only eat so much cost. 

When grocery stores — from Kroger to Whole Foods — began offering meal kits in-store, meal-kit delivery services, which have higher fixed packaging and delivery costs, were forced to adapt or decompose.

So Blue Apron begged its way back into the Costco aisles

Cuz f*ck the haters, they’ll do what they gotta do. On top of the #pivot, they also cut costs, which should help their long-run revenue.

As part of an inaugural promotion, the first Blue Aprons to hit Costco shelves will be 30% off — not quite as high as the unwanted 80% discount on Blue Apron stock, which is still down from its July IPO. 

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