Hello, Quartz Index readers!
Blue Apron is going public at the most awkward time imaginable, thanks to Amazon.
The company announced its IPO on Monday (June 19). Tucked into the section on risk factors in a regulatory filing, the New York-based meal-kit delivery service acknowledged that increased competition from companies with greater resources is perhaps its biggest existential threat.
The deal announced last Friday (June 16) to fuse online retail giant Amazon with Whole Foods promises to reshape the grocery industry, and with it the ways in which people have food delivered to them.
There’s also the other elephant in the room: Blue Apron isn’t profitable yet. The company’s net revenue may have grown to $795.4 million by the end of 2016, but its net losses have also been on the rise. The company noted a loss of $54.9 million in 2016.
The good news for Blue Apron is that it has a head start. But whether it can entice new customers to give it a shot, retain them, and find a way to stay a step ahead of companies with a lot more experience in logistics is a question on everyone’s mind right now. —Chase Purdy
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