Blue Apron
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Type of business | Subsidiary |
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Traded as | NYSE: APRN (2017–2023) |
Founded | August 2012 |
Headquarters | New York City, New York, U.S. |
Area served | United States |
Founder(s) |
|
Key people | |
Industry | Meal kit |
Revenue | ![]() |
Employees | 165 (2023)[3] |
Parent | Wonder Group (2023–present) |
Subsidiaries | Blue Apron Market BN Ranch |
URL | www |
Blue Apron Holdings, Inc. is an American ingredient-and-recipe meal kit company headquartered in New York City, operating its services exclusively in the United States.[4] It offers weekly boxes containing ingredients, which also includes suggested recipes that must be cooked by hand by the customer using the pre-ordered ingredients.
As of September 2016, the company had shipped 8 million meal servings.[5] In June 2017, the company went public through an initial public offering.[6] Since November 2023, Blue Apron operates as a subsidiary of food delivery startup Wonder Group.[3]
History
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/20/Blue_Apron_meal_kit_box.jpg/170px-Blue_Apron_meal_kit_box.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dc/Blue_Apron_meal_kit_ingredients.jpg/170px-Blue_Apron_meal_kit_ingredients.jpg)
Matt Salzberg, Ilia Papas and Matt Wadiak first began sending customers boxes containing the ingredients to cook recipes in August 2012, packing and shipping the first 30 orders themselves from a commercial kitchen in Long Island City.[4] In May 2014, the company announced that it would be launching a fulfillment center in Richmond, California.[7] In November 2014, Blue Apron launched Blue Apron Market, a store featuring kitchen tools and cookware.[8] In December 2014, the company opened another fulfillment center in Jersey City, New Jersey.[9]
After the opening of its third fulfillment center in Arlington, Texas in June 2015, the company began shipping to the contiguous United States.[10]
In September 2015, Blue Apron launched Blue Apron Wine, a direct-to-consumer wine delivery service that sends customers six 500 ml bottles per month.[11] The wines, made specifically for Blue Apron, are purchased directly from vineyards and sent directly to customers.[12]
In October 2016, BuzzFeed reported a history of safety and health violations at the company's Richmond, California distribution center. The company attributed the problems to operational issues while scaling up during its early days.[13]
In February 2017, the company announced that it would be opening a fulfillment center in Linden, New Jersey.[14]
On June 29, 2017, Blue Apron had its initial public offering of 30 million shares of class A common stock (ticker APRN) priced at $10 per share; it is the first U.S. meal-kit company to go public.[6]
Since going public, Wall Street has cut Blue Apron's stock price in half. By October 2017, prior to its next earnings report, the company had announced a company-wide realignment, 6% of employees laid off at both the corporate offices and fulfillment centers, estimated to be a couple of hundred jobs.[15][16]
On November 30, 2017, Blue Apron announced that Brad Dickerson would be replacing Salzberg as CEO; Salzberg will remain chairman.[17]
As of March 26, 2018, Blue Apron has lost 81.4% of its market value since its initial public offering.[18]
In May 2018, Blue Apron began selling 4 servings meal kits at 17 Costco locations in California, marking the company's entrance into physical retail[19] and Tim Bensley, formerly of Acosta Sales & Marketing, entered as CFO.[20]
On August 2, 2018, Blue Apron, announced the total number of customers who paid for a meal delivery had a decrease of 24 percent during the second quarter of 2018 compared to the previous quarter, and the company also indicated total orders had slipped by 23 percent.[21]
In April 2019, Brad Dickerson was succeeded by Linda Findley Kozlowski as the new CEO of the company. However, Dickerson remained at the company as an adviser.[22]
In November 2020, Alan Blake was succeeded by Charlean Gmunder as the new COO. Blake left the company in June to lead operations at Kettle Cuisine.[23]
In September 2023, food delivery startup Wonder Group agreed to acquire the company for $103 million,[24] which was finalized couple of months later.[3]
Environmental impact
[edit]The company and other meal kit companies have been criticized for creating excess packaging waste from the individually packaged ingredients.[25] As of 2017, Blue Apron partners with farms that limit agricultural chemicals and promote soil health through crop rotation to grow specialty crops for the company.[26]
References
[edit]- ^ Garber, Jonathan (April 2, 2019). "Blue Apron is soaring after its CEO steps down (APRN)". Business Insider. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
- ^ "US SEC: Blue Apron Form 10-K". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. March 16, 2023.
- ^ a b c Beltran, Luisa (November 13, 2023). "Investor Marc Lore's Wonder Group closes its deal for meal kit service Blue Apron for $103 million". Fortune.
- ^ a b Konrad, Alex (September 5, 2016). "Blue Apron's Got Big Plans For Dinner -- But So Do Its Hungry Rivals". Forbes. Archived from the original on November 14, 2023.
- ^ Sherwood, Alison (September 5, 2018). "Meal kits put to the test". The Times Herald. Archived from the original on December 10, 2023. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
- ^ a b Hirsch, Lauren; Moon, Angela (June 28, 2017). "Meal-kit maker Blue Apron goes public, demand underwhelms as Amazon looms". Reuters. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
- ^ "Blue Apron Brings 400 Jobs to Bay Area". PRNewswire. May 28, 2014. Retrieved May 10, 2017.
- ^ Crook, Jordan (November 12, 2014). "Blue Apron Blows Past 1 Million Meals Sold Each Month, Looks To eCommerce". techcrunch. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
- ^ "Blue Apron Shipping Over One Million Meals per Month". PRNewswire. November 12, 2014.
- ^ "Blue Apron to Open Arlington Fulfillment Center". PRNewswire. May 18, 2015. Archived from the original on February 11, 2017. Retrieved May 10, 2017.
- ^ Goode, Lauren (September 26, 2015). "Can booze lure me back to a meal-delivery service?". The Verge. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
- ^ Athavaley, Anjali (September 21, 2015). "Meal delivery start-up Blue Apron to sell wine, sees growth opportunity". Reuters. Retrieved May 10, 2017.
- ^ O'Donovan, Caroline (October 2, 2016). "The Not-So-Wholesome Reality Behind The Making of Your Meal Kit". BuzzFeed. Retrieved August 10, 2017.
- ^ Iati, Maria (February 8, 2017). "Blue Apron to bring 2K jobs to Linden facility". NJ.com. Retrieved May 10, 2017.
- ^ "Form 8K". SEC. October 18, 2017.
- ^ Lynley, Matthew (October 18, 2017). "Blue Apron is laying off hundreds of employees". Tech Crunch.
- ^ Roof, Katie (November 30, 2017). "Blue Apron loses its CEO". TechCrunch. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
- ^ Selway, Josh (March 26, 2018). "Blue Apron Stock Hits New Low as Square Gets Huge Price-Target Hike". Schaeffer's Investment Research.
- ^ Peterson, Hayley (March 5, 2018). "Costco now sells Blue Apron — and the meal kits are 30% off". Business Insider. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
- ^ "Blue Apron Appoints Tim Bensley as Chief Financial Officer". Blue Apron. May 17, 2018./
- ^ "Blue Apron shares sink as customers ditch its meal-kits". Reuters. August 2, 2018. Retrieved August 3, 2018.
- ^ Wiener-Bronner, Danielle (April 2, 2019). "Blue Apron CEO and CTO are leaving the company". CNN. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
- ^ Bradbury, Rosie (December 1, 2020). "Blue Apron taps United Airlines catering exec as COO". Grocery Dive. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
- ^ Valinsky, Jordan (September 29, 2023). "Blue Apron stock surges 130% on news it is being sold". CNN Business.
- ^ Cushing, Ellen (November 27, 2015). "These Are The Trashy Consequences of Blue Apron Delivery". Buzzfeed. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
- ^ Preston, Marguerite (January 12, 2017). "How Sustainable Is Your Mail-Order Meal Kit?". Rodale's. Archived from the original on August 11, 2017. Retrieved May 10, 2017.
External links
[edit]- Official website
- Historical business data for Blue Apron:
- SEC filings
- 2017 initial public offerings
- Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange
- Online food retailers of the United States
- American companies established in 2012
- Retail companies established in 2012
- Transport companies established in 2012
- Internet properties established in 2012
- Food and drink companies based in New York City
- Subscription services
- 2012 establishments in New York (state)
- 2023 mergers and acquisitions