Blue Apron Teams Up With Hawaiian Culinary Legend
Blue Apron is adding a little "aloha" to its meal kit offering.
The company is partnering with James Beard award-winning Chef Roy Yamaguchi to bring his Hawaii-inspired recipes, representing a blend of French and Japanese cooking traditions using fresh ingredients typically found in Hawaii cuisine, to its meal kits.
"I am thrilled to partner with Blue Apron to shine a spotlight on Hawaii-inspired cuisine and its roots," Yamaguchi said. "In collaboration with their culinary team, we created recipes that highlight elements of what makes this cuisine so unique, including using juiced, dried and preserved fruits in different formats to help perfect the blend of sweet and savory flavors."
Yamaguchi is a trailblazer who has revolutionized Hawaii cuisine and this collaborative menu highlights the style of cooking he has cultivated over his 45-year career. Through these recipes, Blue Apron seeks to empower customers to learn new techniques never before featured as part of its extensive menu offerings.
"The exceptional recipes featured in our collaborations with award-winning chefs are a key differentiator for Blue Apron as they enable our customers to explore their curiosity through the discovery of new cuisines, ingredients and cooking skills," said John Adler, VP, culinary and physical product at Blue Apron. "As an icon in the culinary world, we couldn't think of a better partner than Chef Roy Yamaguchi to help introduce our customers to both classical and new techniques that are foundational to great cooking."
Available through Blue Apron's website and mobile app, the Blue Apron x Chef Roy Yamaguchi recipes are on the Two-Serving and Four-Serving Signature menu. The recipes will be offered for four consecutive weeks through May 24 and will include:
- Soy-Ginger Marinated Shrimp with Crispy Garlic & Lemongrass Rice
- Seared Steaks & Sesame Mashed Potatoes with Charred Shishito Agrodolce & Bok Choy
- Sweet & Sour Chicken with Tomato Gastrique & Ramen Noodles
- Togarashi Scallops with Beurre Blanc, Soy Mustard & Sushi Rice
- Charred Gochujang Pork Chops with Sour Cherry Soy Sauce & Ginger-Honey Carrots
Blue Apron's latest chef partnership comes as the meal kit industry grew nearly 13% from 2019 to 2020 to become a $9.13 billion market, supercharged by the pandemic.
In February Blue Apron raised its fourth quarter guidance after posting a narrower-than-expected third-quarter loss of $15.3 million, or 96 cents a share, compared with a loss of $26.2 million or $1.99 a share, in the year-earlier quarter. Revenue rose 13% to $112.3 million from $99.5 million.
