For weeks, subscribers to Blue Apron and Marley Spoon have been venting on social media and Reddit about botched deliveries—empty boxes, spoiled proteins, and orders that never arrived. The turmoil follows the bankruptcy of their former supplier, FreshRealm, and a hasty transition to new fulfillment partners that has left many longtime customers questioning their loyalty.
The meal kit industry promises convenience: pick recipes online, and a boxed set of pre-portioned ingredients arrives at your door each week. But as the Wall Street Journal first reported, the shift away from FreshRealm has been anything but seamless. Customers describe receiving boxes with only ice packs, recipe cards with a few stray lemons and spices, or boxes missing three-quarters of the ingredients across multiple dishes.
“I received an empty box this week. They shipped a box with just ice packs,” one Reddit user posted alongside a photo of the nearly empty delivery. Another subscriber, who said they’d been with Blue Apron since its launch, reported that their box was missing 75% of ingredients across three dishes, including two proteins, and that the packaging was “horrendous.”
The problems extend beyond missing items. One decade-long Blue Apron customer complained that their order arrived two days late, having sat in 80–90 degree heat over the weekend. “It felt like I was carrying a massive diaper that’s literally about to burst from the bottom,” they wrote, describing spoiled food. Others say their orders never showed up at all.
Both companies have acknowledged the issues in public statements. Blue Apron admitted on social media that transitioning to a new fulfillment partner “has not gone smoothly,” and said it is working to fix the problems. Marley Spoon issued a similar apology, saying, “Missing ingredients. Incomplete boxes. Delivery delays. Issues that made it harder to get meals on the table. We’re truly sorry and we’re working to make this right.”
Behind the scenes, the chaos stems from FreshRealm’s bankruptcy filing, which left inventory counts inaccurate, according to Abhi Ramesh, CEO of Misfits Market, the company now operating Blue Apron’s new warehouse. With little time to source replacements, the rushed transition compounded the difficulties.
In response, Blue Apron is trimming its menu to focus on items it can reliably deliver and is boosting quality control at fulfillment centers. A spokesperson told Nexstar that customers with missing or unusable items—such as meat that has lost its chill—should contact customer service within seven days of delivery, and that the company is “proactively crediting or refunding customers who have missing items or incomplete boxes.” Marley Spoon said credits may be issued automatically in some cases, and refund requests will be reviewed.
Customers, however, report difficulty reaching customer service for quick replacements or refunds. As the companies work through the backlog, some are threatening to cancel subscriptions entirely—a stark warning for an industry already facing intense competition and thin margins.
For now, both companies are urging patience. Marley Spoon expects improvements “over the next few weeks,” while Blue Apron is asking customers to give them another chance. But for many subscribers, the trust has been broken—and empty boxes may be the last straw.
