I Have a Theory: Robot Fulfillment
The wording in the email we just got, specifically under “What is Blue Apron doing to fix this?”, got me thinking and now I have a crackpot theory that I have no way of proving or even investigating and I have 0 inside information but here it is.
Blue Apron chose a new “fulfillment partner” who promised that they can reduce their workforce headcount by leaning into automation and box filling robots and the machines are simply not working as expected. Automation could explain why boxes are now just piles of ingredients instead of full meals packaged together in plastic. It would be easier in an automated assembly line to just fill a box with ingredients then to separate out and package full meals.
The boxes that people are getting this week don’t seem like anything a human would have packed much less signed off on.
Blue Apron’s parent company also feels like the type of company would try to cut costs in this way.