Anybody going to invest in Blue Apron?

[james.hendrickson]

Blue Apron is going public tomorrow (Thursday the 29th). Are any of you planning on investing? From what I've heard, their earnings will be soft.

[disneysteve]

Blue Apron is going public tomorrow (Thursday the 29th). Are any of you planning on investing? From what I've heard, their earnings will be soft.

IPOs are almost never a wise investment. Sometimes they have a quick spike but then rapidly recede back to issue price or less in many cases. And it's usually the pros who are able to catch that spike, not individual investors.

[MooseBucks]

Probably not a good idea with Amazon buying Whole Foods.

[Mikehills101]

Is this really working now that we are 2017? Just asking

[msomnipotent]

There is too much competition and more will be popping up. I have also heard that their margins are extremely thin.

[MooseBucks]

There is too much competition and more will be popping up. I have also heard that their margins are extremely thin.

They've come out and said they aren't profitable now, they got more customers and are losing a higher amount of money and they don't think they can ever be profitable. I don't know why Blue Apron would be a good investment.

[Gaston]

Possibly but definitely not right now. At the very least I will wait until the stock price drops to the $9 level.

[Gailete]

They've come out and said they aren't profitable now, they got more customers and are losing a higher amount of money and they don't think they can ever be profitable. I don't know why Blue Apron would be a good investment.

Why would a company even try to stay in business if they don't think that they can be profitable? Doesn't compute in my brain. I checked into Blue Apron and a few of the others as I heard about them. Out of my league cost wise, although maybe not for upper middle class folks which is whom I would think this service would appeal to. From what I saw, It also seemed as if the portions were on the skimpy side, so no chance of leftovers. Since you have to prep, cook and then do the dishes, the only thing this service is doing for you is saving the shopping and recipe hunts through cookbooks. Now even my Walmart has the service where you drive in and they deliver your groceries (and all purchases) right to your car. I don't know the cost. I do know I don't want someone else picking out my fresh fruits and vegetables. I can however see me using the pick up service at Walmart as it gets harder and harder for me to shop without assistance and I can't depend on my youngest to drop everything for mom on Saturdays to help me shop. The Blue Apron, already too much work for me, and many of their recipes didn't even appeal to me.

[disneysteve]

Why would a company even try to stay in business if they don't think that they can be profitable?

This is how a lot of tech companies (sites like Twitter) operate. I don't know how they manage it. Seems to me that if your business is losing money year after year after year, there's got to be a point where you pull the plug.

From what I saw, It also seemed as if the portions were on the skimpy side, so no chance of leftovers. Since you have to prep, cook and then do the dishes, the only thing this service is doing for you is saving the shopping and recipe hunts through cookbooks.

We've never used any of them but we have friends who have. They do say the servings are good size for the meal but not usually anything left over. The appeal is that you get everything needed to make the meal. You don't need to go out and buy a bunch of ingredients that you may never use again like spices and such. There's no waste. You can't just go to the store and buy one rib of celery, for example. You need to buy the whole stalk. Or a teaspoon of cumin or whatever. Obviously, of course, you're paying for that convenience.

[David James]

It's true that Blue Apron has a lot of competition, but I believe they were the first meal delivery company on the scene. We saw with Bitcoin (first crypto) and Uber (first rideshare) that whoever comes first, tends to dominate their industry and have longevity far above their challengers. That being said, I'm not an expert and feel safer relying on the pros. I've been using fractalerts for close to a year now and am happy with my returns which help pad my daughter's college fund.

[Gailete]

From what I have seen of the meals from the different places and to hear that Blue Apron doesn't think they will be making money at least for a long while, I wonder if they need a food delivery program with a bit different approach to eating and that is food for the common man. Like spaghetti, pot roast, and dare I say it? Liver and onions with bacon and mashed potatoes. Haven't had it in years as hubby doesn't like liver. Take some lessons from cookbooks from the 1950's Like the Betty Crocker cookbook that I used to learn how to cook from. Lots of good recipes

I remember back when I was younger, and people ate meals like those, you rarely heard of people being over weight. A meal filled them up and they weren't off looking for munchies a half an hour after dinner. It seems the more that they have taken fat, sugar, etc. out of recipes and ingredients, the more people have gotten fat. Of course exercise is a component of the weight issue as well. But I see these meals delivery companies as in competition to get the best and most unusual recipes. Perhaps because I grew up much differently, but I for one don't want to be eating high class restaurant type meals every or many nights of the week. Maybe some day they will think up the down home yummy meals, where all the ingredients are delivered so you don't have to go out shopping for them. For instance oregano isn't a rare herb, but it goes into a lot of my dishes when I cook them but for some it might be unique.

I have no clue whose brain child these companies were but I think for the meals they may want to tone the fanciness down for a bigger chance of profits, from worn out couples both working 40+ hours a week and want any break that they can afford and to have all the ingredients for a decent spaghetti sauce instead of opening a jar, or a roast hat they can start in the crock pot before leaving for work and all the ingredients are there. How many times have you gone to cook a meal that has been on your mind all day and then discover you are missing the main ingredient. Or making a nice chicken Alfredo. There are ways to tweak these companies into profitability.

[David James]

Gailete, I think some of the appeal is that a lot of younger folks don't know how to cook and Blue Apron is an easy way of learning. The meals don't look large enough for me, but my wife and I like to cook extra so we can pack it for lunch at work the next day. I agree with you about offering simpler fare!

It looks like the IPO was a disappointment. Maybe they think some tech innovation will make them profitable in the future. I bet a lot of their money goes into keeping foods at the right temperature while it's shipping.

[Gailete]

Gailete, I think some of the appeal is that a lot of younger folks don't know how to cook and Blue Apron is an easy way of learning. The meals don't look large enough for me, but my wife and I like to cook extra so we can pack it for lunch at work the next day. I agree with you about offering simpler fare!

It looks like the IPO was a disappointment. Maybe they think some tech innovation will make them profitable in the future. I bet a lot of their money goes into keeping foods at the right temperature while it's shipping.

I think perhaps some are leery of IPOs where the company has no idea of how they will make doing what they do, after the dotcom bubble that went bust.

When I was reading about Blue Apron about a year ago, their packaging to keep frosh at the right temp, was expensive and didn't look to be cheap. They encourage the buyers to recycle it, but who knows how that goes. But to keep meat and seafood at proper temps would certainly be tricky and not freezing the delicate veggies and fruit, such as raspberries would be a fine balancing act.

Along with the simpler fair, I think I would also offer more options per week. Most of these places you either go with what they are telling you to eat for a week or you skip that week altogether. You don't get a wide selection to pick from. I can understand that they are trying to keep control of costs, but it seems to me, that giving more choices, like 10 meals a week, can provide more choices, more variety, etc. but even a chance to procure more ingredients in bulk at an even better price.


It is funny that some things sound like such a good idea until you try it out. My latest item to review for Amazon is one of those little robot vacuums. In theory a good idea, in practice, not so much. I could thoroughly sweep and then vacuum the entire floor while the little robot tried hard, but missed just about everything unless your him cleaning for a couple of hours and I wouldn't spend my life monitoring a vacuum. I thought the Blue Apron concept was fantastic until I read just about their entire website. By the end of reading I wasn't so enthralled with the idea.

[bjl584]

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/17/why-is-blue-apron-aprn-stock-down-amazon-files-meal-kits-trademark.html

Blue Apron at all time low as Amazon moves in on their turf.

[Gaston]

There seems to be no bottom to this stock. Maybe under 5$ would be a reasonable price for the stock?