Blue Apron is making its meal boxes available on-demand in NYC

By AJ Dellinger Published July 8, 2020

Guillermo Fernandes/Flickr

Residents of New York City have a new option to order in for dinner, but be warned: assembly is not included. Blue Apron, the popular meal subscription service, is offering up its boxes through on-demand food delivery platforms including GrubHub and Seamless.

Rather than the standard system provided to monthly subscribers that places a box of ready-to-make meals on their doorstep during the week, the Blue Apron boxes ordered through the delivery services by residents of the five boroughs arrive on-demand and in less than an hour.

Recommended Videos

“This new on-demand product is a complement to our core offering, giving consumer — for the first time — the option to have a Blue Apron meal delivered to their doorstep in less than an hour,” Blue Apron CEO Brad Dickerson said in a statement.

The service marks the latest in the company’s attempts to make its meal boxes more accessible. It has also been working with Costco and grocery stores to explore making its curated offerings available in stores. Blue Apron has stiff competition in the meal delivery market from the likes of Plated and Hello Fresh.

The meal boxes will serve between two to four people and will cost between $19 and $38 depending on the dish and serving size. When ordering, you’ll have to factor in a $4 delivery fee — a pretty steep premium for a meal that you’ll still have to make yourself once it arrives. Blue Apron plans on enticing new customers by offering a 40 percent off coupon for your first order.

Blue Apron has been trying to cut down on the meal preparation times for many of its meals — the company introduced options that could be made in 30 minutes or less and would require less cleanup, per CNBC. The boxes delivered via GrubHub and Seamless continue in that tradition, and should only take about 15 to 25 minutes to cook.

One downside to ordering Blue Apron on-demand, other than needing to cook it yourself, is the fact that deliveries are only available during a small window. The company is offering delivery between 4:00 pm and 8:45 pm in New York City. That may expand — as may the markets the service is available in — sometime in the future, but for now, Blue Apron is primarily for those who are looking to make a meal during traditional dinner hours.

Topics

Contributor

AJ Dellinger is a freelance reporter from Madison, Wisconsin with an affinity for all things tech. He has been published by…

Branded Content

Tesla Powerwall is the best solar, home backup, and EV charging companion

Tesla Powerwall 3 installed on outside of home

Solar power, and having solar panels on your home, is a fantastic way to conserve energy and cut down on power bills, especially if you live somewhere sunny like Florida or California. There's just one glaring issue. When the grid goes down you still lose power because of how it's connected. Your solar panels cannot generate enough energy or keep it stored to keep your power on. So, essentially, your power setup doesn't offer much benefit there, unless you get a home power backup system. More specifically, something like a Tesla Powerwall is a compact home battery that stores energy generated from the grid. That energy is then used as a backup when traditional grid power is unavailable.

To make it even more clear, with a Tesla Powerwall, the power stays on even during a major blackout or outage. It's whole-home backup, too, which means you can power your lights, appliances, electronics, you name it. If you've ever had to throw away an entire refrigerator's worth of spoiled food because of a multi-day outage -- like I have -- you'll certainly appreciate the option to keep your appliances running. But that's not all it can do. The Tesla Powerwall is an excellent companion for Tesla EV owners, creating an entire smart ecosystem of power. Let's explore.

Smart Home

Air fryer or cordless vacuum, you choose: Two deep Black Friday discounts worth shopping

Levoit LVAC-200 cordless vacuum in use with pet nearby

Going down probably as two of the most random, unique contenders for smart home and Black Friday deals in a mashup together, we have the COSORI TurboBlaze Air Fryer and LEVOIT LVAC-200 Cordless Vacuum. One will cook your food fast and crispy the other will clean your home fast and effectively. Why not, right? You could even throw some food into the air fryer and get to cleaning while it heats up with the vacuum. Okay, maybe it really is an excellent combo. Nevertheless, these Black Friday discounts will have you a little more excited than normal, let's take a closer look.

COSORI TurboBlaze Air Fryer -- now $88, was $120 26% off

Smart Home

Best home security camera deals: Ring, Arlo, Blink and more on sale

These are the best security camera deals available right now

Prime Day 2022 security camera deals graphic.

If you're the sort of person who worries about the physical safety of their home or live in a rough area, then having home security cameras can help give you much more peace of mind. The great thing is that in the past decade or so, security cameras have come a long way, and nowadays, you can get things like wireless security cameras that let you access them remotely from wherever you are through an application. Of course, that does mean that there is a huge selection out there, which is why we've collected some of our favorite security camera deals below, although if you're in the Amazon ecosystem, it might be worth checking out these Ring camera deals.
Chamberlain myQ Smart Garage Security Camera -- $27 $50 45% off

While this is ostensibly made for your garage, there's no reason the Chamberlain myQ Smart Garage can't work for other uses as well, especially if you don't need the highest quality of recording. It has an HD camera, which isn't a ton, but it does have an impressive 130-degree field of view. The MyQ also connects through dual-band Wi-Fi for a better connection, and it even has two-way communication, which is impressive for something at this price bracket.