Blue Apron

Blue Apron Holdings, Inc.

Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Meal kit delivery service
Founded	August 2012 (2012-08)
Founder	Matt Salzberg, Ilia Papas, Matt Wadiak
Headquarters	New York City , United States
Area served	United States
Key people	Linda Findley Kozlowski (CEO), Charlean Gmunder (COO)
Products	Meal kits, Blue Apron Market, Blue Apron Wine
Parent	Wonder Group

Blue Apron Holdings, Inc. is an American meal kit provider headquartered in New York City, delivering weekly boxes containing ingredients and recipes for customers to prepare meals at home. By September 2016, the company had distributed 8 million meal servings. It went public in June 2017 via an initial public offering and has been operating as a subsidiary of the food delivery startup Wonder Group since November 2023.

History

Blue Apron was founded in August 2012 by Matt Salzberg, Ilia Papas, and Matt Wadiak, initially fulfilling 30 orders from a commercial kitchen located in Long Island City. The company expanded its fulfillment network with a center opening in Richmond, California by May 2014, followed by additional facilities in Jersey City, New Jersey (December 2014) and Arlington, Texas (June 2015), broadening its reach throughout the contiguous United States.

In November 2014, Blue Apron launched Blue Apron Market, offering kitchen utensils and cookware for sale. The following year, in September 2015, it introduced Blue Apron Wine, a direct-to-consumer service delivering wines sourced straight from vineyards.

During 2016, the company encountered operational difficulties while scaling its Richmond distribution hub but proceeded with further expansion by announcing a fulfillment center in Linden, New Jersey, in February 2017.

Blue Apron’s IPO on June 29, 2017, priced at $10 per share, marked the first public offering by a U.S. meal kit company. However, the stock value declined sharply by late 2017, prompting workforce reductions of approximately 6% across corporate and fulfillment teams. In November 2017, Brad Dickerson succeeded Salzberg as CEO, with Salzberg retaining the chairman role.

By March 2018, the company’s market capitalization had decreased by more than 80% since its IPO. In May of that year, Blue Apron began selling products through Costco stores in California and appointed Tim Bensley as CFO. Despite these efforts, mid-2018 reports indicated declines in both customer numbers and order volumes.

Leadership adjustments continued with Linda Findley Kozlowski taking over as CEO in April 2019 and Charlean Gmunder stepping into the COO role in November 2020 following Alan Blake’s departure.

In September 2023, Wonder Group agreed to acquire Blue Apron for $103 million, completing the transaction later that year.

Environmental impact

Meal kit companies like Blue Apron have been criticized for generating excessive packaging waste. As of 2017, Blue Apron partners with farms that minimize agricultural chemical use and improve soil health through crop rotation practices to source specialty crops, demonstrating its dedication to sustainable procurement.