Three Things to Love About Blue Apron
As of this month, Australis Barramundi will be featured in select recipes in Blue Apron’s meal kits making our sustainable seafood accessible to even more people—like you.
Through Blue Apron, you can now get barramundi delivered to your doorstep, complete with all the ingredients to cook up something delicious.
If you’re not familiar with Blue Apron, it’s the leading fresh ingredient and recipe delivery service in the U.S. and currently delivers over eight million meals every month. And while that may sound like a lot of meals—it is—Blue Apron sources, creates and delivers its meal kits in a way we can all feel good about. Our appreciation for Blue Apron goes beyond convenient meal preparation—the company has significantly impacted how we think about and consume food. Here are three reasons why we love Blue Apron (and you should, too):
#1 It’s a Great Way to Discover New Ingredients
If you’re like us, you have your go-to recipes. Although you’re up for testing out new ingredients or techniques, you don’t always know how. Known for using less common ingredients and recipes, Blue Apron offers an easy way to try new things in the kitchen. By equipping its customers with step-by-step recipe guides and the ingredients (in exactly the amount needed), it enables them to try new ingredients or techniques that they might otherwise avoid. For example, many people are a little wary of fish—buying, cooking and eating it. But armed with a tried-and-true recipe and the fish selection done for them, they are much more likely to feel confident about cooking fish and enjoy the delicious result.
#2 Blue Apron Is a Sustainable Seafood Champion
Marine life has decreased 49% since 1970 as a result of human impact. Well aware of this not-so-pretty fact and how much we depend on our oceans, Blue Apron is a proud partner of Monterey Aquarium’s Seafood Watch and is committed to sourcing only sustainable seafood for its customers. “We’re trying to build a regenerative closed loop food system,” says the company’s co-founder and COO, Matt Wadiak, who has led the initiative to ensure that all of Blue Apron’s seafood is sustainably sourced. “It’s our goal to change the way people eat seafood in this country.”
In order for seafood to be considered sustainable by Blue Apron, it must be raised and/or harvested in a way that takes into account the long-term impact on the ocean and the people who depend on it. It also recognizes that the not all wild-caught fish fits this bill, and that not all farm-raised fish is bad—like Australis Barramundi. (When done right and well regulated, aquaculture can alleviate some of the pressure on wild fish stocks.)
Read Blue Apron’s blog post: “Seafood in a New Light: The Truth About Wild and Farmed Fish”
#3 Blue Apron Is Significantly Minimizing Food Waste
Thirty to 40 percent of food in the U.S. goes to waste each year—that’s two out of every five bags of groceries. This staggering waste happens at various stages, from farm to fork, in the supply chain. Blue Apron commissioned a study from the Business for Social Responsibility, a global sustainability non-profit, to better understand the company’s impact on food waste. It found that it reduced food waste by 62% when comparing a week’s worth of Blue Apron meals to a traditional grocery store. Blue Apron’s business model allows it to predict demand, work directly with the farmers to grow only what’s needed, and pre-portion the ingredients out for its customers—all which minimize the amount of food that’s thrown away.
But for Blue Apron, that 62% isn’t enough. It has a team of experts who advise the company in its continual efforts to reduce its food waste even more—with an end result of zero food waste in its system.
If you’re interested in mixing things up in the kitchen, taking part in the sustainable food movement and reducing food waste, sign up with our special promo link to receive three FREE Blue Apron meals by clicking here. And if you’re simply up for trying something new, give Blue Apron’s Seared Barramundi and Pan-Seared Barramundi recipes a go. You won’t regret it.