How Much Does Blue Apron Cost? Full Details on Blue Apron Prices and Meal Costs

Intro: How Much Is Blue Apron? Full Details on Blue Apron Prices and Meal Costs

Meal delivery services have exploded in popularity. As a society, we’ve progressed from growing our own food to shopping for groceries to going out to eat to ordering in. Entrepreneurs have found ways to increase the convenience of ordering in or eating out by widening the possibility of food we can have delivered to our homes.

On the other hand, we have become more health-conscious, which means we are increasingly picky about what we consume. This has resulted in a spike in popularity for healthier options and cooking at home. Additionally, the price of eating out or ordering in has caused consumers’ wallets to take a hit.

One solution that mixes the best of both worlds – cooking and ordering in – is Blue Apron. This article will go over the Blue Apron cost and Blue Apron prices for its different packages as well as take a look at how Blue Apron pricing compares to alternative ways of eating.

Image Source: Blue Apron

How Much Does Blue Apron Cost? Blue Apron Cost of Different Packages

Blue Apron prices and the answer to the question, “How much is Blue Apron?” depends on the specific package customers subscribe to. Customers can subscribe to one of two packages: the two-person plan or the family plan.

The two-person plan provides three recipes a week that serve two people. For the entire week, the Blue Apron cost comes to $59.94, or $9.99 a serving. For the family plan, subscribers receive two recipes a week that serve four people. For a week’s worth of recipes, the Blue Apron pricing comes to $69.92, or $8.74 per serving.

Customers have the option of canceling at any time or opting out of a week’s meals if they do not like that week’s available selection. In order to skip out from a week, customers are required to provide notice a week in advance. If you have a relatively predictable schedule, the cancellation policy that comes with the Blue Apron meals cost is a fair deal, although it can be a bit of an issue if unavoidable, last-minute issues come up.

One review on Recode recounts an example of this in a customer’s Blue Apron review:

Recently, I only had two days’ notice — I had to head out of town unexpectedly for a funeral — and Blue Apron said it was too late to cancel the delivery. Really? I asked a neighborhood friend to come by and take the box so it wouldn’t go to waste.

So the inflexibility of the cancellation policy is something consumers will need to take into consideration when determining whether the Blue Apron cost is worth the service.

How Much Does Blue Apron Cost? Saving Time and Money

An obvious question people have when learning about Blue Apron is, “How much does Blue Apron cost?” This is a fair question considering the Blue Apron prices can be a deal breaker for many potential subscribers, but an important factor to consider when asking this question is, “compared to what and in what context?”

Those who are already accustomed to and happy with cooking and preparing their own meals may be unimpressed with the idea of this meal kit delivery service and the Blue Apron prices. With their ability to source their own ingredients and be savvy about staying within a groceries budget, the thought of paying for the premium of convenience may not be attractive.

However, for those who are looking to save time and save money, in comparison to the amount they would spend by eating out, the Blue Apron cost makes it an attractive alternative.

Image Source: Blue Apron

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Blue Apron Reviews: Benefits of Using Blue Apron

One reviewer falls into this particular category of people. For this reviewer, finding a sweet spot between saving time (traditionally done through ordering in) and saving money (traditionally done by cooking at home) was the goal. In this scenario, the Blue Apron pricing made it a suitable option, and the reviewer was absolutely pleased with his experience. So much, in fact, that he used the service for an extended period of time of approximately three years.

This reviewer notes that the Blue Apron prices of the meals (about $10 a serving) are comparable to a cheap entrée you would order at a mid-level restaurant. This is in addition to the satisfaction of preparing your own meal and the added benefit of discovering new and inventive ways to prepare your own food. Moreover, the Blue Apron cost only includes the amount of food you need to prepare the meal, meaning there is no additional food waste or leftovers that remain behind in your refrigerator.

The Blue Apron cost of subscribing also includes the ongoing introduction to new foods. While the week-to-week variety of recipes is limited (for two-person meals, there are six choices a week and for family meals, there are four choices a week), the Blue Apron pricing accounts for the development of new meal ideas every week. There are constantly new recipes being developed by the Blue Apron team so that subscribers do not get bored. This way, they benefit from the opportunity to learn new dishes.

As this reviewer notes, the Blue Apron cost is also justified by how consistently delicious the meals are. A common downside of trying out a new recipe, either read in a cookbook or pulled from a website, is the risk of the end result tasting awful, which is an all-too-common outcome for many novice chefs. The review noted that the amount of time saved by not having to run out to the grocery store or find your own recipes – in addition to the useful resources and instructional videos on the website – made the Blue Apron pricing worth it.

Learn New Cooking Skills with Blue Apron

Additionally, what is implicitly included in the Blue Apron cost is cooking classes of all sorts. While some critics may say that you are not actually learning how to cook, since you are basically being handheld through a cook by a numbers process, you are learning how to incorporate ingredients you may never have handled before as well as try techniques you may have been too intimidated to tackle in the past.

In fact, this review of the Blue Apron pricing makes a good point that indirectly responds to this criticism of Blue Apron not teaching people how to really cook. Instead, subscribers achieve a better awareness of how to prepare food and what they can make at home as opposed to eating out in a restaurant or picking up fast food. The reviewer notes:

I started out as an amateur cook and still consider myself that even after two years on BA. But I have definitely noticed that I know a lot more (or think I do at least) about how my food is prepared at restaurants, have a greater appreciation for the craft of cooking, and just generally know more about food. You can easily be completely disconnected from the reality of cooking by subsisting on Subway or Chipotle. We still definitely eat at restaurants, but I think we’re much more selective about where and what we eat now that we know what we can whip up in our own kitchen in terms of quality.

I also felt as if cooking got easier and easier, to the point now where I’m anticipating what the instructions will want me to do next. The learning curve wasn’t that steep– after a few weeks it became very natural to read the five to six panel recipes.

Blue Apron Cost: Customer Service

Naturally, when you buy into any subscription service, you are also paying into a certain level of customer service and company reputability. The Blue Apron cost would not be fully worth it if the meals were great but there were issues with delivery or negative interactions with the company. Blue Apron reviews of the company’s customer service point to positive interactions and good experiences with the company.

This reviewer wrote that the team was responsive, was willing to accommodate special orders like additional servings on Thanksgiving if requested, and helped address any issues.

Blue Apron Prices: How Much Money Do You Save?

For some, the question, “How much does Blue Apron cost?” is instantly followed up by, “How much money will I save?” Naturally, this depends on your unique spending habits, budget, and personal financial goals.

The Christian Science Monitor supports an earlier point in this review of Blue Apron cost: Blue Apron pricing will save you money compared to dining out, but not compared to staying in to cook. As we mentioned, it is relative to the lifestyle you are moving away from. If you are using Blue Apron as a replacement to your home cooking in order to save money, Blue Apron prices will not help you. But if you are moving away from eating out, the comparative Blue Apron meals cost will definitely be cheaper. The publication writes:

These subscription services are not a frugal replacement for home-prepared meals. Using the USDA’s Cost of Food analysis for several food plans, the cost of home-prepared meals works out to $1.80 to $3.57 per meal. The cheapest of the services reviewed here, Blue Apron, costs $9.99 per meal…However, where these services do compare well, in terms of cost, is with spending on dining out. Depending on where you go, you may spend between $12 and $30 per person, per meal.

If you would like to start saving money by cutting down on your food budget but are not yet ready to give up convenience, Blue Apron pricing is a good, cost-effective alternative. While it will not save you money if you are already cooking meals at home, the Blue Apron cost is a good alternative if you eat out or order in more than three times a week.

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