There are definitely people a service like this makes sense for. The issue isn’t that someone following a recipe doesn’t match your expectation of a Parisian chef carefully selecting items at a hole-in-the-wall fromagerie on Rue Mouffetard.... it’s that Blue Apron’s model is simply too easy to copy.

My local Albertsons has meals in box ready to roll. Amazon is launching their service. There are the Blue Apron clones you listed.

BA’s stock price isn’t because they are “hacks” or because the idea is bad.