A Gourmet Delivery Service for At-Home Cooks
Small Business Spotlight: Blue Apron Meals
Who: Matt Salzberg, @BlueApronMeals
What: A grocery delivery service for at-home cooks
When: 2012
Where: Brooklyn, NY
How: Blue Apron is an ecommerce business that delivers all the ingredients that home cooks need to make specially designed meals in the right amounts, says co-founder Matt Salzberg. Each week, subscribers have the option to opt into packages that would provide ingredients and recipes for three meals for 2, 4 or 6 people.
Blue Apron purchases its ingredient from high-end wholesalers and then divides the ingredients accordingly depending on how many people are coming for dinner, says Salzberg. The service costs $9.99 per-person per meal, which includes shipping and taxes, he adds. Blue Apron currently delivers to about 50% of the country, with a concentration on the eastern half of the nation. Cities include New York, Boston, Washington, D.C., Chicago and the suburbs between those cities.
Quote from the founder: “There’s such an interest in food in this country, and people want to eat healthier and fresher. But it’s difficult to cook at home, especially if you want to cook really interesting meals, because you need to source ingredients, and you can’t buy them in just the right amount … you need to but the whole bottle of a spice, not just a little bit for a new recipe.”
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