APRN - How Amazon and Walmart Ate Blue Apron's Lunch
When Blue Apron (NYSE: APRN) initiated its IPO in 2017, meal kits were trending. That led many investors to overpay for the stock despite several warning signs, and it made grocery chains look into acquiring or creating competitors. Albertsons bought Plated. Kroger bought Home Chef. Walmart (NYSE: WMT) and Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) experimented with building their own kits.
In 2017, I said Walmart and Amazon could eat Blue Apron's lunch by leveraging their infrastructure and scale to create efficiencies in the meal kit delivery business. I was wrong -- meal kits at Walmart and Amazon stores have all but disappeared.
But I was also kind of right. Instead of using meal kits, consumers have shifted to buying regular groceries online to pick up in-store or delivered straight to their door. That trend took off in 2019 as Blue Apron continued to flounder.