Meal Kit Companies Spending More to Win Customers as Grocery Delivery Competition Grows

Blue Apron and similar meal kit companies are increasing their spending on promotions and discounts to attract customers. This is happening because grocery delivery services (like Amazon Fresh) and food delivery apps are now offering many of the same conveniences—getting food to your door quickly—but often at lower cost and with less hassle. Meal kit services used to stand out as a unique option, but now customers have many other ways to get groceries or prepared food easily. As a result, meal kit companies have to spend more money to convince people to choose them. This pattern has happened before with other specialized services that lost their advantage when larger, broader companies entered their market.