Meal-kit service Blue Apron wants to interact more with its customers by opening a series of pop-up events, including one temporary brick-and-mortar store.
The initiative, called Unboxed, will include food trucks in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and other cities, as well as movie nights in Austin, Dallas and Minneapolis.
The single pop-up shop is to open in New York City's Flatiron District on May 29 and will operate through June 24. The pop-up will allow visitors to examine Blue Apron products, including the concept's new grab-and-go offering, which is available for purchase. Pop-up shop visitors can also experience cooking classes and panel discussions featuring such notable chefs as Tamar Adler, Marco Canora and Sam Kass.
Most of the activities will be free of charge except for the cooking classes. Blue Apron says it will donate the proceeds from these classes to City Harvest, which is dedicated to feeding the nearly 1.3 million New Yorkers facing hunger.
By Brannon Boswell
Executive Editor, Commerce + Communities Today
