That's just plain scary.

Hmm I have a different take. To me, it sounds like naive, idealistic management had no idea what it would be like to manage an unskilled urban workforce in a very tough area. My main takeaway would be ... Stay the heck away from Richmond's labor force.

As a Blue Apron customer, I think they do a great job. I am a food snob, but their ingredients are just excellent. And the one time they were not .. A wilted herb.... They credited me for the whole meal. The recipes are very good. The only negative for us is that a lot of their meals have Asian flavors, which are not my favorite. It seems like every week one meal is Asian and one is more Continental (I'm signed up for 2 meals for 4 each week). As a result I often cancel my week. Also, they usually take me 45-1hr to prepare.

1 thing that caught my attention was this - yuck!

"Just a few weeks after Cal/OSHA officially issued fines to Blue Apron in December 2015, a routine health inspection by the Contra Costa County Environmental Health Division resulted, according to its website and confirmed by Director of Environmental Health Marilyn Underwood, in nine health violations, including one “major violation” regarding the sanitization of food surfaces. Facilities with one major violation can still pass their inspections. Blue Apron, which disputes the classification of these violations, states that it “has passed every single health inspection it has ever had, in every single facility.”.."

Uh oh, I'm afraid to click. I really enjoy Blue Apron (and Hello Fresh).

I have heard that you would not want to know what goes on in the kitchens of fine restaurants. Same with hospital environments.

I've worked in restaurants - I know!

Or the backrooms of grocery store delis, meat, and produce rooms! Anywhere food is herded, fished, grown, collected, stored, harvested, for that matter. I was a state registered and certified food sanitarian. To avoid problems, eat a limited diet you can grow and produce yourself. Uh hunh. And don't look into the backrooms or restaurant kitchens. Uh hunh! I've never been in a food factory, but I sure can imagine things!

Ps I also love Blue Apron!

I would often tell my daughters that we should all be hospitalized 24/7 if all the reports that you hear and read were indeed that harmful to us.

Consumer Reports recently had a comparison of several companies. Blue Apron rated pretty well, but was not the most highly rated. Hello Fresh was one of the top rated. There were several categories that made up the rating, including ease of prep, freshness of the ingredients received, average price, nutrition, number of recipes to choose each week, average time to get the dinner on the table, etc. At the time I was thinking about trying one of the plans, as I had received a discount card for a trial purchase. I didn't do it and glad I didn't choose Blue Apron after reading the results.

It depends on what you value most. I think Blue Apron was dinged for being a bit more exotic and taking longer to make. That's fine with me, because in my book quality is the most important factor.

I would not make my meal choices based on ratings in Consumer Reports. I don't see them as experts in taste.

I am not inclined to use Blue Apron or any of the others because we very much enjoy the menu planning, shopping and cooking process-- it is all very recreational for us. But among the more sophisticated foodies I know who use these services, Blue Apron gets very high marks.

I've volunteered at places that were subject to health inspections. Major violations are usually gross but many minor violations are often for things that people do every day in their own homes. A restaurant should be held to a higher standard but a few minor violations might not be as bad as it sounds.

Who knows what really goes on. They do a major tune up before the inspections.

Exact wording in section I quoted above is "major violation"...

I was going to try one of these companies (have a coupon for BA), now I'm not sure and will have to do a bunch of research and read endless reviews. No easy decisions in this day and age! ;-)

Snookums, inspections are ALWAYS done on a random drop-in basis. There is never any advance warning of an inspection. Inspectors just seem to materialize in kitchens, usually quietly observing for a moment before identifying themselves to the boss. They are not easily fooled.

Other operations do have them scheduled - which is kind of strange. I have witnessed all the work before the inspections.

Blue Apron is tempting, but frankly not interested in lots of bread, nor in chicken breast.

? What do you mean, Artemis? I recall very receiving bread only very rarely and not necessarily a lot of chicken (plus you have some choice)

I just looked at the current recipes for a few of them (Sunbasket, Marley Spoon & Purple Carrot) and did not find any that I would want to try. Artemis, I agree about the chicken breast, not something we ever eat, as we all prefer leg/thighs. Too bad, as I was looking for a break from having to go to the supermarket.

Very often, the dishes are not something I would have chosen to shop for and prepare. But the end result is always interesting and delicious. I love that I've learned more about spices and cooking techniques. I hate, hate, really hate grocery shopping. Having all the ingredients for a healthy meal waiting to be prepared seals the deal for me. I do care about the working conditions of the people preparing my box of food, though.

cattyles, good to know and I should probably give it a chance.

I think one has to remember there are "food places" that have had MAJOR food poisoning/salmonella out breaks. That is what happens when people fail inspections. As a teen I too worked behind the scenes in restaurants. People do their best but it is likely they are all not ALWAYS up to standards of many as far as what would/would not happen at home. My guess, if we had inner knowledge of every employee's habits, every inspections results none of us would ever eat anything we didn't grow ourselves. Those days are over. At some point the germ-a-phobe fussy fussy customer thing has to be let go of.

I received a $30 gift card from BA redeemable online via a code on the card. I'm not likely to use this service, so if anyone would like to see if the code works for them, message me and I'll share it.

Lisa, BA has been doing a lot of mailers in my area. I've received 3 of the gift cards in the last couple of months.

You can have mine, too, Chispa!

Today I saw their ad on America's Test Kitchen. I thought it was odd, as most viewers of that show are likely to cook their own meals, I would guess. Or maybe they're banking on those viewers who think, "There's no way I can make that dish... I'm calling Blue Apron."