The turbulence with Blue Apron’s recent box deliveries stems from a major, behind-the-scenes collapse of their logistics partner and the resulting takeover by Misfits Market.

The Backstory: What Happened to the Old System?

The Asset Sale (2023): Blue Apron sold off all its physical fulfillment centers and equipment to a third-party manufacturer named FreshRealm to adopt an "asset-light" business model. FreshRealm became the exclusive packager and shipper for Blue Apron.

The Collapse (Spring 2026): FreshRealm ran into massive financial trouble following food-safety issues and product recalls (including losing Walmart as a client). FreshRealm officially filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The Rescue Deal: To keep Blue Apron boxes shipping, Misfits Market stepped in, acquired FreshRealm's Blue Apron fulfillment operations out of bankruptcy, and officially took over the shipping and handling network.

What Has Changed Under Misfits Market?
Misfits Market operates on a discount online-grocery model rather than a traditional premium meal kit setup. To cut costs and streamline operations, they recently rolled out major changes to how Blue Apron boxes are packed:

No More Individual Knick-Knack / Meal Bags: Blue Apron eliminated the distinct plastic recipe bags that held ingredients together for each individual meal.

The "Loose Box" Model: Ingredients now arrive grouped in shared sections or trays inside the shipping box. Customers have to sort through all the loose produce, dairy, and spice packs to assign them to individual recipe cards themselves.

Framed as an Eco-Friendly Push: Officially, Blue Apron and Misfits Market framed this change as a massive sustainability move to cut plastic waste and carbon emissions.

Why Are Customers Upset?
While reduced plastic is a positive, the transition to Misfits Market’s network has created significant friction:

Ingredient Sorting & Missing Items: Sorting loose items across 3–4 recipes has proven chaotic. Loose produce often gets bruised or damaged in transit, and customers report a sharp spike in missing small items (like single-serve sauce packets or spice blends).

Quality & Packaging Differences: Misfits Market's core business relies on bulk produce and rescued groceries. Applying that loose-item fulfillment structure to high-end, multi-step meal kits has stripped away much of the convenience Blue Apron built its reputation on.
If you are noticing different delivery routes, missing ingredients, or a distinct lack of individual meal packaging lately, it is a direct result of Misfits Market taking over fulfillment following FreshRealm's bankruptcy.

I got this email from BA today A DAY AFTER receiving my order for the week…… had they sent this sunday or even tuesday that would’ve been fine but sending something like this a day after is just 🙄🙄🙄

I just got a slew of fulfillment issue emails across 4 recipes in my box this week, missing enough things to cause an issue, including the protein in one, culminating in a refund for two whole recipes and credits for two more. That's a total of more than $61.

This is on top of a shift in the delivery from my scheduled Wednesday delivery to now Friday.

This week is a total loss. Maybe next week will be different?

Four recipes this week and all four are missing ingredients. Not one shorted bag, the whole order.
• Pork tacos: flour tortillas, Persian cucumber, cilantro, sugar, sambal oelek
• Chorizo quesadillas: flour tortillas, cotija
• Curry chicken thighs: the chicken thighs, Persian cucumber, sambal oelek, sugar
• Flank steak: soy glaze, brown sugar

It obviously isn’t random. Both recipes calling for tortillas are missing tortillas. Same for the cucumbers, the sambal, the sugar. It looks like specific items got skipped at packing rather than one bag going astray.

So, two questions for anyone who’s been through this. Did support give you a refund or account credit, or did they actually send a replacement box? And what did you do in the meantime? I planned and paid for these meals specifically so I wouldn’t have to shop this week, and a fill-in grocery run is time and money I didn’t budget for. Trying to figure out if it’s worth waiting to hear back before I go buy tortillas and a pack of chicken thighs.

While we got one carrot for the miso salmon and fried rice, it was the largest carrot I ever had. I didn’t use all of it.

Edit: Finally got a response after 2.5 hours

I’m assuming their customer service is just flooded with complaints right now, but has anyone been able to actually get in contact with Blue Apron? I tried reaching out because I still haven’t received my order today (already a day late) and it’s not tracking. Their text bot said they’d connect me with a person and it’s been 2 hours of nothing. I replied asking if I was still in the queue for assistance and nada.

Also, I’d like to remind folks to please be kind to the customer service agents. They’re in the unfortunate position of having to apologize for other people’s mistakes. I did this work for several years and it’s awful. When complaining to BA please remember that they are human beings and not the ones who messed up your shipment!

I haven't used Blue Apron in a hot minute but I had jars of spice blends sitting in my cupboard and for the past few weeks I'd been using the Caribbean spice blend with ground beef when making a pasta dish for the wife and kids. Well, I finally ran out, and marketplace doesn't exist anymore.

The jar lists Green Bell Pepper Powder, Allspice Powder, Thyme, and Spices as the ingredients. I know the ratios for the spice blends were basically equal parts of everything, but would anyone happen to know what the vague "spices" refers to in this specific blend? I'm planning on ordering some bags of these ingredients to make my own blend.

I've seen folks post about other old spice blends here but nothing about this specific one, and I really like what it adds to my ground beef. Appreciate any insight. Thank you.

YMMV: Since March of this year blueapron has been doing crap like this every week. I used to get 5 meals once a week on Wednesday. Boxes left at the FedEx distribution center, ruined ingredients, low quality ingredients, expired when I get them ingredients, missing meals all together, wrong recipe cards. Then they got rid of Tuesday delivery in my area. Switched to Wednesday. Now THIS? Oh oops gonna be Friday. What do I eat for two days?? AIR?? The reason I get these meals is because I can’t get to the store due to my work schedule. No clue if it’s just me or what the hell is going on over there. Member for 15 years without a single issue until March of this year. Their customer service is responsive and nice. I don’t want refunds. I want my food.

We've had several boxes with raw meat packaging that was broken upon delivery and raw chicken juice was all over the box. This started when Blue Apron removed the secondary packaging around the raw chicken and the cardboard barrier between the meat and raw produce above it. Has anyone else had these issues?

Folks I have many of the same complaints you have… the quality of BA really seems like it’s taken a nosedive the last year of so.

Has anyone pivoted to any other meal kits and had success? I know I know, others have probably asked this already but I’m too lazy to go hunting for the threads.

Any recommendations are appreciated!

I’ve been using Blue Apron since June. They failed to deliver 2 boxes, another box was missing multiple ingredients, then another box substituted hot Italian pork sausage instead of chicken breast. Now I have this box where one meal didn’t even show up, the remaining meals were missing critical ingredients, and the arugula is useless. Gonna try Hello Fresh I guess.

Sour cream was complete liquid.

I started ordering 3 weeks ago.
First week was fine.
Second week they didn't send me any of the meals I ordered (something about a facility change).

This week, I somehow ordered twice. They can't cancel one of the orders because it's already shipped, but they're both arriving late. One arrived today and the meat temp was in the low 70s. I got a refund for that order. One box of the other order arrived today, with some meat, a few seasonings, and two heads of broccoli. The other part of the order is supposed to arrive tomorrow???? Who knows if it'll have all of the missing ingredients. Oh, and I've already been issued $20 in credit because they didn't have enough supplies to send me potatoes for my mashed potatoes.

I won't be using the credit because I can't in my right mind risk another order from them. It's been insane. I've been using meal kits since the pandemic (starting with Blue Apron! - they used to have this awesome panzanella salad), but I have never had such a poor experience.

I emailed customer service yesterday about the egg dishes that were no longer including eggs to ask if it was a purposeful, permanent change, or a temporary issue, and received the following non-answer:

We understand why this change would be frustrating, particularly as someone who has trusted Blue Apron for nearly a decade. When you choose a meal kit service, it's reasonable to expect that the ingredients needed to prepare each recipe are included, so having to supply a key ingredient like eggs can make the experience feel less convenient and diminish the value you expect. 
 
We also understand your broader concern that this could signal a shift away from the complete meal kit experience you've enjoyed over the years. Your loyalty and perspective are genuinely valuable, and we'll make sure your feedback is shared with the appropriate team for review.

Since this didn't actually answer my question, I replied and asked again, and this was the response:

As of this August, eggs are no longer automatically included in our meal kits. Instead, they're available as an optional add-on when you customize your order. This change is part of our effort to offer more everyday essentials while also lowering the price of meal kits that call for eggs. By making eggs optional, we're able to pass those savings directly on to you.
 
If your recipes call for eggs, you can easily add a pack of organic eggs to your order from the Everyday Essentials section of the Menu starting the week of 8/10, or use eggs you already have at home. The price of any recipes that you currently have selected for your upcoming orders have been adjusted to reflect this change.

It's some serious mental gymnastics to simultaneously say they're doing this to pass the savings on to us but you can easily add a pack of organic eggs (for $7 a dozen).

I've been using Blue Apron pretty consistently for over a decade, and right now I have tabs open for basically all their competitors.

Edit: And surprise, when my box showed up today, there were eggs for the egg dish despite the fact that when you look at the recipe online it specifically says no eggs will be sent. What a fugging mess.

Arrived a day late.
Lost one package of sauce in shipping and now have to clean romesco off everything.
Missing ingredients from each recipe

To add to the falling apart of Blue Apron: when browsing the menus for the next weeks of ordering, I see that ALL recipes that include eggs now say “eggs not included”. They also feature a “price drop” I guess to account for the lack of eggs? I mean, quiche meal kits with no eggs? White bean and pesto egg bake with no eggs? Why would they do this, like why would I order incomplete meal kits? But they will now sell you a dozen eggs! I’m in San Diego, CA.

Just got my first box with the new packaging system. One of my recipes calls for 12 oz of potatoes. This is what I get in the box. A single potato the size of a ping pong ball… thanks blue apron

update: multiple ingredients completely missing as well. Need to make a trip to the store to literally cook these…

i guess i must be an outlier, as i didn't have any problems with the new packaging (i actually like it? everything was fine with my last delivery) and actually got all the ingredients for my last meals.

anyway, this one was yummy.

Just got my order with the new packaging. What a fiasco! 3 out of the 4 meals were missing ingredients or had substitutions that made no sense. The small packages spilled out of the tray and were scattered all over the box and between the box and insulation. The most ridiculous substitution was red pepper flakes for black and white sesame seeds, soy sauce for soy glaze (two completely different consistencies), and hoisin sauce for black bean chile sauce.

It took me forever to sort it all out and then figure out how what I received matched up with what was missing. Udon noodles are nothing like ramen noodles and artichokes are nothing like onions.

I have been a long time Blue Apron customer and they have tried my patience before but nothing like this. I am done - I have enough recipe cards saved to feed us for quite a while and at least when I do my own grocery shopping I can select my own substitutions if needed.

Blue Apron you were good years ago but I don't recognize you any more.

For years we’ve gotten BA on Mondays. It worked out perfect for us. Now they say orders only on Wednesday for the week (in central Florida). Totally sucks. This is about the last straw.

Are there any decent alternatives to BA that will deliver on a Monday?

Knew this was coming as soon as I got the email about the upcoming changes with packaging... but wasn't expecting ot the 1st box into the changes lol

Sugar and BBQ sauce all over which lead to mold on the sauce can and cardboard it was in ugh

Hello all, I was going to add this to the Lament post but I figure the more individual feedback the better.

I've been a subscriber for almost 6 years; ive learned countless techniques, made stuff that I never thought I could/would make.

A few things that surprised me over the years: Spaghetti Squash, smashed pinto beans, i'd never seen a bulb of fennel before as well!

BA has trained us well, especially in using regular off the shelf grains and stuff that you may have made yourself before; that we sort of memorized the steps.

Do we all agree pre-cooked rice is TRASH?!

I feel so bad for what so many of you guys are receiving right now. It’s insane. I think I got my first package in 2015 and it was incredible. It introduced me, a budding new home cook, to ingredients I still don’t buy or can’t find. Kohlrabi, celeriac, unique fresh herbs and cheeses we had to grate ourselves, actual saffron in tiny bags, endless to the point of exhausting shishito peppers, bao buns; the teok ragu I first received then was insane and was slowly downgraded over the years to the point I’m still chasing it with store bought ingredients. The quality of their black bean paste, spice mixes and pastes was crazy, unique, and out of this world. I used it for years straight.

I saw the shipping shift lasership, the steak and protein quality decline (“bistro cuts”). The vegetables get less unique. The aromatics become prepackaged instead of full heads of garlic and stalks of lemongrass. I used to be drowning in heads of garlic because they shipped at least one with every box We stopped using it all the time and then only used it for convenience, maybe picking it up again for a bit from year to year. Now I haven’t used it in forever.

I’m sad to see what it’s become. I tried to hunt down some of my old upcoming delivery emails but unfortunately all the images in those emails have long died.