“Consumers don’t want to fit into a brand’s business model anymore - brands have to fit into people’s lives.” 

— Raina Enand, Head of Marketing, Blue Apron

For years, Blue Apron was synonymous with the meal-kit subscription boom—a pioneer that helped shape how millions of Americans cook at home. But today, the brand is undergoing one of the most profound transformations in its history.

Under the leadership of Raina Enand, Head of Marketing at Blue Apron (now part of Wonder), the company has reinvented its entire business model, introduced two new product lines, overhauled its brand identity, and reentered the upper-funnel with one of the most ambitious marketing pushes in recent years.

In this episode of The Speed of Culture, Raina joins Matt Britton to discuss the new Blue Apron, the evolving needs of today’s time-starved consumers, the rise of protein-driven eating, how creators are reshaping food marketing, and what the Wonder ecosystem means for the future of mealtime.

Tune into the latest episode or read the transcript below to learn more. Here are some top takeaways:

Blue Apron + Wonder: Building the Superapp for Mealtime

Blue Apron now sits inside Wonder, the Marc Lore–founded company reshaping how consumers order food, discover restaurants, and plan meals. Wonder combines:

• A multi-restaurant food hall model
  
• Delivery from dozens of restaurants in a single order
  
• A physical dining experience
  
• Now, integrated access to Blue Apron meal kits and pre-made meals
  

Wonder’s long-term vision?
Become the superapp for mealtime—a single destination for anything a consumer might want to eat or cook.

Blue Apron’s role in this ecosystem is to offer at-home convenience, flexibility, and high-quality cooking solutions—with none of the friction or commitment the old subscription model required.

The New Blue Apron: Faster, Easier, More Flexible

COVID introduced millions of new consumers to meal kits, but as life returned to normal, time disappeared. Raina describes today’s consumer reality as:

• “I’m time-starved.”
  
• “I come home at 5:00 and my second shift begins.”
  
• “I need dinner on the table in 30 minutes.”
  

The new Blue Apron reflects this shift. The company has:

1. Eliminated mandatory subscriptions

Blue Apron walked away from the model it invented.
Why? Consumers want flexibility—not weekly commitments, not skipped-week anxiety, not rigid meal planning.

Shoppers can now:

• Buy à la carte
  
• Sign up for Blue Apron Plus for free shipping
  
• Enable Auto Ship & Save to automate meals their way, without being locked in

This expands Blue Apron’s TAM dramatically—and creates more opportunities to re-engage consumers who come in and out.

2. Launched two new product lines

• Assemble & Bake — fast, easy meals with minimal prep
  
• Dish by Blue Apron — protein-forward meals designed for health-focused consumers
  

3. Rebranded across web, app, and visual identity

Everything is designed to reinforce one core message:
“This is not the Blue Apron you remember.”

Consumer Trends Shaping Today’s Food Landscape

Raina highlights two major macro trends rewiring consumer behavior:

1. Control & Customization

Consumers want full transparency and choice:

• Swap proteins
  
• Control calories
  
• Track macros
  
• Personalize meals
  

Blue Apron now offers 70% customizable meals, with much more innovation coming.

2. Protein as the #1 food attribute

Protein demand has surged with double-digit search growth for five straight years. Drivers include:

• Satiety and weight management
  
• Health-first lifestyles
  
• GLP-1–driven eating, which requires higher protein intake
  

Every Dish by Blue Apron meal includes 20g+ of protein, with many reaching 30–40g.

As Raina puts it:
“In the 90s, people counted calories. In 2025, people count protein.”

Rebuilding Consideration: Awareness Was Never the Issue

Everyone knows Blue Apron. Most people have even tried it.

The challenge?
Consideration, not awareness.

Consumers still associate Blue Apron with:

• Long, difficult recipes
  
• Subscriptions they can’t cancel
  
• Lack of flexibility
  

The relaunch aims to shatter that perception, supported by a major marketing return to:

• Linear and connected TV
  
• Podcast advertising
  
• Streaming audio
  
• Social and creator content
  
• New paid media channels
  

For the first time in years, Blue Apron is back in the upper funnel—loudly.

Owning the Feed: Creators as the New Food Storytellers

Raina’s content strategy is built around one mandate:

“Own the feed.”

This philosophy includes three pillars:

1. Influencers & creators

Blue Apron brought its entire creator program in-house to nurture relationships directly.

Rather than hiring a single celebrity face, the brand is partnering with hundreds of creators to show:

• Real kitchens
  
• Real families
  
• Real mealtime chaos
  
• Real outcomes

Food is intimate—and authenticity matters.

2. Organic social + UGC

Everyday cooking moments—kids helping, couples cooking together, meals under 30 minutes—fuel relatability and community.

3. Paid social

Amplifies the creator content that resonates most with audiences.

This approach reflects a broader industry truth:
Modern food inspiration happens on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube—not TV.

Why Blue Apron Ditched Subscriptions: A Massive but Necessary Shift

Raina explains the bold move simply:
Consumers are burned out on subscriptions.

Everything from a home scale to a doorbell now requires a subscription. Add in travel, hybrid work, unpredictable weeks—and weekly meal kits no longer fit modern lifestyles.

The new Blue Apron model:

• Removes friction
  
• Gives shoppers autonomy
  
• Meets consumers where they are
  
• Makes it easier to retain customers, not harder

Now, if someone steps away from a subscription, they’re not “churned”—they may still shop anytime they want.

Leadership Lessons From Jet, Wonder, and Marc Lore

Raina attributes much of her growth to working under Marc Lore across multiple companies. She highlights three cultural principles that shaped her career:

1. Extreme empowerment

If you have a bold idea, test it.
Learning—fast—is more important than being right.

2. Speed

Marc operates at “the speed of light,” and Raina thrives in that environment where action beats overthinking.

3. Vision

Marc’s belief that Wonder will become the superapp for mealtime gives teams a mission worth running toward.

Raina’s Career Advice: Become Dangerous in Many Disciplines

Her intentional career path helped her avoid being pigeonholed. She worked across:

• Brand marketing
  
• Paid social
  
• Paid search
  
• Offline media
  
• CRM and lifecycle

Her superpower?
Connecting dots across the entire consumer journey.

She encourages young marketers to:

• Speak up (“If you see something, say something”)
  
• Learn beyond their job title
  
• Sit in meetings outside their function
  
• Stay curious across disciplines
  

Marketing is a web, not a silo.

Raina’s Mantra: “If you see something, say something.”

This simple principle guides how she leads teams and approaches problem-solving:

• Did you see an insight in the data? Speak up.
  
• Did you see a campaign that inspired you? Share it.
  
• Did something feel off? Question it.
  

Assuming someone else has already thought of it, she says, is always the wrong assumption.