We priced out the exact same ingredients (or close substitutes) and then hit the calculators to find out how the cost of each meal would compare to Blue Apron’s average of $9.99 per person. Read: This is how much it actually costs to shop at Whole Foods If you only want to buy a half-bunch of asparagus, you can ask a worker to portion that out for you - though you might want to double-check their math to make sure you’re gettin charged correctly, if a recent New York City investigation is anything to go by. Whole Foods says that any produce items priced by weight it will cut down to exactly the amount you need. Whole Foods aka Whole Paycheck is hardly a budget grocer, so we felt the comparison would be fair. So we headed out to the local Whole Foods to put that to the test. (Customer service offered us a $9.99 credit for the missing onion.)īlue Apron did its own price comparison research and claims that, on average, it can deliver ingredients for less than 60% of what your grocery store charges. One major mishap occurred, though: We were missing one yellow onion. We weighed each ingredient and found that nearly all of them matched exactly the amounts Blue Apron listed. The cost averages out to $9.99 per person but you are charged per weekly order, which contains 6 meals for $59.94 (that’s the 2-person plan the family plan is $139.84 per week, or $8.74 per serving).īlue Apron tells you how much of each ingredient they are sending you and pre-measures ingredients to reduce waste. Blue Apron promises “exciting,” “seasonal” recipes for beginners and experienced cooks alike (all of which are available on its website for free), and farm-fresh ingredients from family-run businesses, all at a “better value than your local grocery store.”īlue Apron, like other meal-delivery services, doesn’t disclose how much you are paying per item or, even, per specific meal. It has been called one of the most innovative startups of the past few years.

The New York-based startup has inked a deal for $135 million in fresh capital, which values the company at $2 billion pre-money. and serving up more than 2 million meals each month. We ordered a week’s worth of meals from Blue Apron, one of the longer running meal-delivery startups on the scene, which is available across 85% of the U.S. Blue Apron: Better value than your local grocer? ”īut just how much of a premium are you paying? Dollar for dollar, here’s how meal-delivery service Blue Apron, which claims to be a better value than your local grocer, compares with shopping at Whole Foods

“Doing the math ingredient-by-ingredient, we found Blue Apron to be 35% more expensive than Whole Foods.

Blue apron price per meal