Author Topic: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program  (Read 17260 times)

senecando

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Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« on: October 23, 2014, 01:36:45 PM »
https://www.homechef.com/

For TEN DOLLARS A SERVING, they will ship you ingredients that you STILL HAVE TO COOK.


Some of the meals include things like two ounces of balsamic vinegar or two peeled garlic cloves.

Chranstronaut

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Re: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« Reply #1 on: October 23, 2014, 01:45:23 PM »
Obviously, they need to charge $10/serving because they have to cover the costs of the shipping, the cardboard box,  the packing peanuts to keep the food from bruising, plastic baggies for all the ingredients, smaller plastic bags for the 1/4 tsp of each spice (individually packaged of course!), stickers with their logo to seal all the bags, recipe pamphlets on high quality paper, replacement cartridges for their inkjet home printer professional printing service and website hosting fees.

And don't even get me started over how expensive it is to hire someone to buy food from the grocery store, put it IN the baggies and apply the postage.  Whew!

NumberCruncher

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Re: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« Reply #2 on: October 23, 2014, 01:46:23 PM »
...O.o

This is more expensive than at restaurants, for some of these. $10 for a serving of thai veggie rolls? Only the fanciest restaurants would charge you that much.

I just...don't...understand...who pays for this??

strider3700

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Re: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« Reply #3 on: October 23, 2014, 02:10:48 PM »
There is a place in town that makes the food for you and then you drive down, put the food in the containers and take it home and it's more expensive then this.    It's basically making your own doggy bags before bothering to eat.    Pricing was equivalent to eating at a restaurant.   I have no idea what their target market is.   Maybe people that want to pretend to cook at home to show off?
« Last Edit: October 23, 2014, 03:54:29 PM by strider3700 »

MicroRN

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Re: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« Reply #4 on: October 23, 2014, 03:45:09 PM »
I know a surprising number of people who do similar programs, like Blue Apron and Plated. $10 PER PERSON.  Then they rave on FB about how awesome it is and other people chime in about how reasonable the price is.  For $10 total, I could make a fantastic meal plus leftovers for our entire family and I'm not a super frugal cook.   

What is cool though is that at least Blue Apron has the weeks recipes on their website, for free.  Some of the recipes look good, and you could buy the ingredients and make it yourself for much less.  I've printed a couple of theirs for later use.

Beaker

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Re: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« Reply #5 on: October 23, 2014, 03:56:37 PM »
What a scam. They're not even prepping the ingredients, they're shipping almost exactly what you would buy from the store, just less of it. I could see that almost making sense if they were bizarre ingredients that you might not use often enough to justify buying... but ground beef? A single onion? WTF?

YK-Phil

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Re: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« Reply #6 on: October 23, 2014, 04:04:03 PM »
If this works, and from a casual observation of our consumer society it will, I think this is a brilliant idea.

mushroom

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Re: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« Reply #7 on: October 23, 2014, 04:20:35 PM »
One of my friends uses Blue Apron (similar program) regularly and thus often gets free trial invites to give to her friends. So I was able to get 3 meals (for 2 people each) sent to me completely for free. It was pretty good, and especially the beet pasta with swiss chard was absolutely amazing, but obviously I would never pay for this. I also felt guilty about the massive amount of packaging involved. Although I did reuse a bottle to bring a small amount of olive oil camping and use the packaging to insulate the area around our window air conditioner.

iris lily

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Re: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« Reply #8 on: October 23, 2014, 08:02:35 PM »
There is a place in town that makes the food for you and then you drive down, put the food in the containers and take it home and it's more expensive then this.    It's basically making your own doggy bags before bothering to eat.    Pricing was equivalent to eating at a restaurant.   I have no idea what their target market is.   Maybe people that want to pretend to cook at home to show off?

yeah, so? haha.

 There are also the places that buy all of the food, cut it up, and then YOU GO TO THEIR COMMERCIAL KITCHEN to cook it, following their recipe. Then you bag it to take home and freeze it for future meals.

Oh yeah, I want to pay for that.

expatartist

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Re: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« Reply #9 on: October 23, 2014, 09:24:09 PM »
Best post title I've seen on this form in a long time.
That is all.

ioseftavi

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Re: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« Reply #10 on: October 23, 2014, 09:34:17 PM »
Best post title I've seen on this form in a long time.
That is all.

Agreed.  I laughed way too loud upon realizing what it was.  And these programs are insane.  As someone who likes to cook...like...really cook...this is a tiny step above ordering in.

cdub

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Re: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« Reply #11 on: October 23, 2014, 11:35:11 PM »
There is a place in town that makes the food for you and then you drive down, put the food in the containers and take it home and it's more expensive then this.    It's basically making your own doggy bags before bothering to eat.    Pricing was equivalent to eating at a restaurant.   I have no idea what their target market is.   Maybe people that want to pretend to cook at home to show off?

yeah, so? haha.

 There are also the places that buy all of the food, cut it up, and then YOU GO TO THEIR COMMERCIAL KITCHEN to cook it, following their recipe. Then you bag it to take home and freeze it for future meals.

Oh yeah, I want to pay for that.

There's a place like that down the street from me. From the name I thought they sold pre-made dinners so I went to go check them out... and then I saw it's exactly what you described which is just plain... weird.


golden1

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Re: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« Reply #12 on: October 24, 2014, 05:43:43 AM »
I just don't get these services, at all.  The only benefit is that you are trying meals that are outside of your comfort zone, but still...$10 a person for one meal?!?!


MoneyCat

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Re: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« Reply #13 on: October 24, 2014, 10:41:09 AM »
A lot of businesses are stupid ideas.  Apparently, there is also a turf war going on between businesses that pick up and do laundry for people too lazy to do their own.  I think the explanation is "Millennials".

socaso

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Re: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« Reply #14 on: October 24, 2014, 10:48:55 AM »
Am I the only one who thinks they probably won't put enough spices in the box anyway? I love to cook and have often found that the spice amounts in lots of recipes are more of a starting point and then you have to taste and adjust.

dungoofed

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Re: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« Reply #15 on: October 24, 2014, 11:05:20 AM »
pets.com comes to mind. This is Silicon Valley investors with more dollars than sense.

mm1970

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Re: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« Reply #16 on: October 24, 2014, 11:23:27 AM »
There is a place in town that makes the food for you and then you drive down, put the food in the containers and take it home and it's more expensive then this.    It's basically making your own doggy bags before bothering to eat.    Pricing was equivalent to eating at a restaurant.   I have no idea what their target market is.   Maybe people that want to pretend to cook at home to show off?

yeah, so? haha.

 There are also the places that buy all of the food, cut it up, and then YOU GO TO THEIR COMMERCIAL KITCHEN to cook it, following their recipe. Then you bag it to take home and freeze it for future meals.

Oh yeah, I want to pay for that.

There's a place like that down the street from me. From the name I thought they sold pre-made dinners so I went to go check them out... and then I saw it's exactly what you described which is just plain... weird.
I did that a couple of times.  It was supposed to be a "fun" thing for moms to do.  I also did it for a friend to fill her freezer before having a baby.  It makes it easier if someone else has the recipes and everything chopped for you.  So you can get 5-10 meals for the freezer in a couple of hours, vs. a full day of work.

But I only did it twice.  It went out of business.  And frankly, my own food and my own recipes are way better, and cheaper.

I can see the appeal - takes the thought out of it.  If you don't like to shop and don't want to think about what to cook, it's easier than doing it yourself and healthier than eating out.

But I still can't imagine doing it.

4alpacas

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Re: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« Reply #17 on: October 24, 2014, 11:31:19 AM »
There is a place in town that makes the food for you and then you drive down, put the food in the containers and take it home and it's more expensive then this.    It's basically making your own doggy bags before bothering to eat.    Pricing was equivalent to eating at a restaurant.   I have no idea what their target market is.   Maybe people that want to pretend to cook at home to show off?

yeah, so? haha.

 There are also the places that buy all of the food, cut it up, and then YOU GO TO THEIR COMMERCIAL KITCHEN to cook it, following their recipe. Then you bag it to take home and freeze it for future meals.

Oh yeah, I want to pay for that.

There's a place like that down the street from me. From the name I thought they sold pre-made dinners so I went to go check them out... and then I saw it's exactly what you described which is just plain... weird.
I did that a couple of times.  It was supposed to be a "fun" thing for moms to do.  I also did it for a friend to fill her freezer before having a baby.  It makes it easier if someone else has the recipes and everything chopped for you.  So you can get 5-10 meals for the freezer in a couple of hours, vs. a full day of work.

But I only did it twice.  It went out of business.  And frankly, my own food and my own recipes are way better, and cheaper.

I can see the appeal - takes the thought out of it.  If you don't like to shop and don't want to think about what to cook, it's easier than doing it yourself and healthier than eating out.

But I still can't imagine doing it.
I did it once with friends (and a groupon).  We had a fun night hanging out and the breakdown per meal wasn't horrible (with the Groupon). 

I wouldn't go there by myself, but I thought it was a fun thing to do with friends.  Maybe I'm the only one with spendy friends that can run up a bar tab.  Prepping the 5 recipes was cheaper than some of our other drinking fueled outings.  Plus I had dinner for weeks! 

Beric01

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Re: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« Reply #18 on: October 24, 2014, 11:35:37 AM »
I just don't understand their business model. If you're too lazy, wouldn't you just buy a dinner out? You could get a pretty decent meal made for your for $10 or less that wouldn't require you to even work, and probably be of comparable or better quality.

The only type of person I can see this working for is people who are too lazy to go shopping, but not too lazy too cook something with the ingredients. And that seems like a pretty small market. Why wouldn't you just buy a bunch of ingredients beforehand in bulk? You can even get grocery delivery, and for a much better price.

iris lily

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Re: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« Reply #19 on: October 24, 2014, 11:56:32 AM »
There is a place in town that makes the food for you and then you drive down, put the food in the containers and take it home and it's more expensive then this.    It's basically making your own doggy bags before bothering to eat.    Pricing was equivalent to eating at a restaurant.   I have no idea what their target market is.   Maybe people that want to pretend to cook at home to show off?

yeah, so? haha.

 There are also the places that buy all of the food, cut it up, and then YOU GO TO THEIR COMMERCIAL KITCHEN to cook it, following their recipe. Then you bag it to take home and freeze it for future meals.

Oh yeah, I want to pay for that.

There's a place like that down the street from me. From the name I thought they sold pre-made dinners so I went to go check them out... and then I saw it's exactly what you described which is just plain... weird.

They are selling the "fun of cooking together" experience to couples. With no boring shopping, prep, or clean-up, it's fun to cook! Or something like that.

merula

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Re: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« Reply #20 on: October 24, 2014, 12:13:45 PM »
A lot of businesses are stupid ideas.  Apparently, there is also a turf war going on between businesses that pick up and do laundry for people too lazy to do their own.  I think the explanation is "Millennials".

I'm a Millennial, and  this is something I see my Boomer parents and their friends doing. My mom loves those "meal in a bag" things where you boil pasta, add water to the sauce packet, mix and serve.

My peers are pretty much split into "eat out" or "love to cook" with little overlap.

But anecdotes aren't data, and the people on the website look Millennial. So is that because it's actually the target or because of a cultural obsession with youth, as in "buy this box of crap and you too can love Miley Cyrus"?

YK-Phil

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Re: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« Reply #21 on: October 24, 2014, 12:17:34 PM »
I can see this business take off in places like Calgary where there is no shortage of young upwardly mobile professionals with a lot of money to waste on anything trendy, especially with the popularity of celebrity chefs and the foodie movement.

Dr.Vibrissae

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Re: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« Reply #22 on: October 24, 2014, 12:22:07 PM »
Our friends are both in grad school, and recently became guardians of two grade school aged children.  The new situation resulted in a sudden change in schedules and more time demands.  The husband has always hated grocery shopping (dislikes having to go into crowded stores) and now they are trying to cook healthy meals that the kids will actually eat (weaning them off a previous diet of frozen convenience foods and sugary treats).  Anyways, they were considering a service like this to help take some of the pressure off a few days a week (they get money to cover feeding the kids). 

When they started telling us about it, my spouse immediately said: I can do that cheaper.  So we set up a trial run, and it worked out great.  The money covers all of our groceries.

sheepstache

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Re: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« Reply #23 on: October 24, 2014, 12:26:04 PM »
A lot of businesses are stupid ideas.  Apparently, there is also a turf war going on between businesses that pick up and do laundry for people too lazy to do their own.  I think the explanation is "Millennials".

At my workplace a company installed lockers where you can drop off your dry-cleaning and pick it up the next day. This is New York City. You're never farther than 1 block from a 24-hour drycleaner.

sheepstache

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Re: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« Reply #24 on: October 24, 2014, 12:27:20 PM »
Best post title I've seen on this form in a long time.
That is all.

Seriously. I'm so happy to come on here and find dyspepsia about certain things in the world that matches or even exceeds my own.

senecando

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Re: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« Reply #25 on: October 24, 2014, 12:27:35 PM »
When they started telling us about it, my spouse immediately said: I can do that cheaper.  So we set up a trial run, and it worked out great.  The money covers all of our groceries.

This is awesome. Sounds like a lot of fun for your spouse, too.

Kaspian

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Re: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« Reply #26 on: October 24, 2014, 12:33:45 PM »
...It makes it easier if someone else has the recipes and everything chopped for you.
 

Haha...  I understand what's been said here, but I also don't understand it at all.  If someone's already done all the shopping, chopping, and prep work, why don't they cook it for you as well?  The hard part is done.

Granted that cooking is the easiest part, but this seems like getting a maid to clean a room, make the bed, but you're the one who gets to put the mint on your own pillow.  :)

skyrefuge

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Re: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« Reply #27 on: October 24, 2014, 12:49:29 PM »
I can see this business take off in places like Calgary where there is no shortage of young upwardly mobile professionals with a lot of money to waste on anything trendy, especially with the popularity of celebrity chefs and the foodie movement.

Yeah, maybe the target market is now-grown kids who had eat-every-meal-out parents, so they're now all "into food", but never learned how to cook (or even shop)? They're smart enough to realize eating out every meal is financially damaging, and want to impress their foodie friends with their ability to "cook", but still can't fathom shopping and selecting recipes on their own? This service would fill that gap. Maybe that's a bigger demographic than we're aware of?

Maybe?

Ok, yeah, I got nuthin' here.

MgoSam

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Re: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« Reply #28 on: October 24, 2014, 01:27:01 PM »
I don't see much wrong with this.

For those that complain about the price, yeah it is much more expensive than someone buying each component at the grocery store, but that is how things work. In addition, gotta factor in so many things that this company has to do.

As for the end-users, it is pricey, but some people will pay it for convenience. If it means that instead of spending $15 on going out, they instead spend $10 to cook a home-meal, that's better in the short-run. I also think that there's a chance that they might eat the $10 thing, and then say, "You know, I can do this on my own for $5!," and thus get a nudge in the right direction.

I wasn't always someone willing to cook, there was a quite a period where I was happy to eat out, sometimes a trigger like this will do it.

NoraLenderbee

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Re: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« Reply #29 on: October 24, 2014, 01:40:50 PM »
There is a place in town that makes the food for you and then you drive down, put the food in the containers and take it home and it's more expensive then this.    It's basically making your own doggy bags before bothering to eat.    Pricing was equivalent to eating at a restaurant.   I have no idea what their target market is.   Maybe people that want to pretend to cook at home to show off?

You mean, like . . . takeout?

eyePod

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Re: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« Reply #30 on: October 24, 2014, 01:50:24 PM »
Our friends are both in grad school, and recently became guardians of two grade school aged children.  The new situation resulted in a sudden change in schedules and more time demands.  The husband has always hated grocery shopping (dislikes having to go into crowded stores) and now they are trying to cook healthy meals that the kids will actually eat (weaning them off a previous diet of frozen convenience foods and sugary treats).  Anyways, they were considering a service like this to help take some of the pressure off a few days a week (they get money to cover feeding the kids). 

When they started telling us about it, my spouse immediately said: I can do that cheaper.  So we set up a trial run, and it worked out great.  The money covers all of our groceries.

That's awesome. You give me X a month and I'll give you meals. Especially if you coupon and do seasonal buying. Love the entrepreneurial spirit!

Sylly

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Re: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« Reply #31 on: October 24, 2014, 01:51:23 PM »
I don't see much wrong with this.

...

I wasn't always someone willing to cook, there was a quite a period where I was happy to eat out, sometimes a trigger like this will do it.

I agree with this.

A lot of people have misconceptions that cooking is difficult, or requires expensive collection of spices, oils, etc. While the former is arguable, the latter has truth in it. If you start with a bare pantry, the need to purchase various spices, herbs may be a significant barrier of entry into home cooking.
This kind of service may be the thing that gets them started, that can lead to slow build-up of all the necessary cooking paraphernalia as people get the "Hey, this isn't so bad, I can get these spices for this dish" epiphany.

resy

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Re: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« Reply #32 on: October 24, 2014, 03:33:03 PM »
No way. My DH and I "came up" with this business idea literally like 2 weeks ago amd discussed a "business model" for about 30 minutes. Just for fun, not actually speaking seriously. Target audience? Same ppl that drive cars they cant afford and go on vacations on credit cards(pay minimums) lol
crazu to see its an actual business

solon

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Re: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« Reply #33 on: October 24, 2014, 03:35:10 PM »
No way. My DH and I "came up" with this business idea literally like 2 weeks ago amd discussed a "business model" for about 30 minutes. Just for fun, not actually speaking seriously. Target audience? Same ppl that drive cars they cant afford and go on vacations on credit cards(pay minimums) lol
crazu to see its an actual business

I think you should start that business anyway! I bet this market way bigger than one company can handle.

resy

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Re: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« Reply #34 on: October 24, 2014, 04:31:17 PM »
No way. My DH and I "came up" with this business idea literally like 2 weeks ago amd discussed a "business model" for about 30 minutes. Just for fun, not actually speaking seriously. Target audience? Same ppl that drive cars they cant afford and go on vacations on credit cards(pay minimums) lol
crazu to see its an actual business

I think you should start that business anyway! I bet this market way bigger than one company can handle.

Whete to start?! Figuring out where to get the food from, liability issues, etc seems pretty daunting!

falcondisruptor

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Re: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« Reply #35 on: October 24, 2014, 09:12:32 PM »
My mother-in-law bought us two weeks of prepared meals from a place like this after our daughter was born.  It was my favourite baby gift.

Also, I'm not at the stage where I LOVE cooking every day yet.  Fast food meals are $7/$8 per person here, and the food we had from the special place was MUCH higher in quality.  I'd definitely consider buying from them again as a one off thing or for a special occasion.

But, there is no way I could justify signing up for something like this on a regular basis.  Our groceries are so much cheaper!

dungoofed

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Re: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« Reply #36 on: October 24, 2014, 09:35:09 PM »
No way. My DH and I "came up" with this business idea literally like 2 weeks ago amd discussed a "business model" for about 30 minutes. Just for fun, not actually speaking seriously. Target audience? Same ppl that drive cars they cant afford and go on vacations on credit cards(pay minimums) lol
crazu to see its an actual business

I think you should start that business anyway! I bet this market way bigger than one company can handle.

Whete to start?! Figuring out where to get the food from, liability issues, etc seems pretty daunting!

I think you'll find that these guys are just the middlemen. You partner with a business that will pack and deliver, you just send them orders. Bye bye liability issues, and if the partnered company ever complains (about anything) you just reroute orders to a different business.

resy

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Re: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« Reply #37 on: October 25, 2014, 01:26:13 AM »
No way. My DH and I "came up" with this business idea literally like 2 weeks ago amd discussed a "business model" for about 30 minutes. Just for fun, not actually speaking seriously. Target audience? Same ppl that drive cars they cant afford and go on vacations on credit cards(pay minimums) lol
crazu to see its an actual business

I think you should start that business anyway! I bet this market way bigger than one company can handle.

Whete to start?! Figuring out where to get the food from, liability issues, etc seems pretty daunting!

I think you'll find that these guys are just the middlemen. You partner with a business that will pack and deliver, you just send them orders. Bye bye liability issues, and if the partnered company ever complains (about anything) you just reroute orders to a different business.
seems the best way would be to go to local, individual wholesalers so you could also make a profit on the actual product, no?
At least thats how I think I would do it, although admitedly much more work.

larmando

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Re: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« Reply #38 on: October 25, 2014, 04:52:29 AM »
Grocery stores/grocery delivery. Clearly too hard to figure out.

Dr.Vibrissae

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Re: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« Reply #39 on: October 25, 2014, 03:35:48 PM »
Our friends are both in grad school, and recently became guardians of two grade school aged children.  The new situation resulted in a sudden change in schedules and more time demands.  The husband has always hated grocery shopping (dislikes having to go into crowded stores) and now they are trying to cook healthy meals that the kids will actually eat (weaning them off a previous diet of frozen convenience foods and sugary treats).  Anyways, they were considering a service like this to help take some of the pressure off a few days a week (they get money to cover feeding the kids). 

When they started telling us about it, my spouse immediately said: I can do that cheaper.  So we set up a trial run, and it worked out great.  The money covers all of our groceries.

That's awesome. You give me X a month and I'll give you meals. Especially if you coupon and do seasonal buying. Love the entrepreneurial spirit!
Even paying us 100 a week, they say they are spending less on groceries and have more food.  We only provide meals for 3 days a week, but they get a lot of leftovers that everyone has been eating for lunches.

I get better food too because we can buy foods/deals we avoided before because of difficulties storing extra or making small batches.  My spouse says it's just as easy or easier to cook for 6 as cooking for 2.

amyable

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Re: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« Reply #40 on: October 25, 2014, 03:47:47 PM »
The title of this kills me.  I'm clearly in the target demographic for these types of things because I always get ads for Plated and Bark Box on Facebook. 

resy

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Re: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« Reply #41 on: October 25, 2014, 03:49:00 PM »
This thread has made me bust out my marketing book :)

sunnyca

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Re: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« Reply #42 on: October 25, 2014, 04:20:37 PM »
The one that always gets me are the juice cleanses that cost hundreds per week.  I think one of the most popular costs $180 for 3 days. For juice. 

MicroRN

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Re: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« Reply #43 on: October 26, 2014, 05:52:05 PM »
The one that always gets me are the juice cleanses that cost hundreds per week.  I think one of the most popular costs $180 for 3 days. For juice.

But it's juice packed with a super-secret blend of detoxifying antioxidant fat burning blah blah blah plants!

Davids

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Re: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« Reply #44 on: October 26, 2014, 08:27:50 PM »
This is exactly like the company that was on Shark Tank last year, plated. https://www.plated.com/

Chranstronaut

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Re: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« Reply #45 on: October 27, 2014, 08:43:15 AM »
My mother-in-law bought us two weeks of prepared meals from a place like this after our daughter was born.  It was my favourite baby gift.

You know, I'd never thought of that, but that is a pretty nice application of this service.  I grew up with neighbors and family friends that would bring you food if you couldn't get out of the house easily.  But if you didn't have anyone living nearby to do that, sending a box like this is a nice alternative.  But at that price point, wow!

One thing I always wonder about these kits is if it actually gives you a proper recipe with measurements, or if it's just "Add spice packet to onion packet" stye directions.  The pictures make it look like you get unprepared ingredients, so I can understand how that would help teach someone to cook by chopping onions or listing the spices involved.  But if you're busy and just dumping packets into a bowl, it's not really teaching you how to cook any more than making boxed macaroni and cheese.

galliver

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Re: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« Reply #46 on: October 31, 2014, 12:42:07 PM »
I don't see much wrong with this.

...

I wasn't always someone willing to cook, there was a quite a period where I was happy to eat out, sometimes a trigger like this will do it.

I agree with this.

A lot of people have misconceptions that cooking is difficult, or requires expensive collection of spices, oils, etc. While the former is arguable, the latter has truth in it. If you start with a bare pantry, the need to purchase various spices, herbs may be a significant barrier of entry into home cooking.
This kind of service may be the thing that gets them started, that can lead to slow build-up of all the necessary cooking paraphernalia as people get the "Hey, this isn't so bad, I can get these spices for this dish" epiphany.

+1 to this. Mind you, it's not something I would ever use and it's not for anyone who has developed a system of meal planning and shopping. But for someone who is pushing the limits of their cooking skills (whether from ground-zero or a very basic level of eggs, pasta, etc), this could be a wonderful service to bridge the gap and give them confidence.

dungoofed

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Re: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« Reply #47 on: October 31, 2014, 07:27:41 PM »
*sigh* the only way to learn to cook is to actually start doing it. My suggestion for people just starting out is to begin with those $2 packet mixes that have fancypants names on the front ("Tropical Thai Chicken with Banana and Coconut") and the exact recipe on the back. Walk around the supermarket, reading off the list and putting stuff in your cart. Pay for it, take it home, and follow through the instructions. Eat.

galliver

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Re: Another fucking customized box-of-shit program
« Reply #48 on: October 31, 2014, 08:03:20 PM »
*sigh* the only way to learn to cook is to actually start doing it. My suggestion for people just starting out is to begin with those $2 packet mixes that have fancypants names on the front ("Tropical Thai Chicken with Banana and Coconut") and the exact recipe on the back. Walk around the supermarket, reading off the list and putting stuff in your cart. Pay for it, take it home, and follow through the instructions. Eat.
And your way is obviously the only correct way.