Grocery Meet Tech. Tech Meet Grocery. (Blue Apron & Flashfood)

This is interesting and potentially game-changing in multiple respects. An app called Flashfood is gaining traction in Canadian grocers and we dig it. The app notifies customers when food is nearing its "best before" date and going on sale. Customers can pay for the food through the app and then pick the order up the same day in-store. The idea is to eliminate waste, beef up grocer sales, and unburden landfills. Query, however, what this means for food banks. Elsewhere in grocery and "tech," Blue Apron has released its financials and, annualized over '17, they show a $208mm loss on a $240mm marketing spend (maybe they'll advertise in PETITION?). Their CAC are through the roof ($94/per) and they're showing an uptick in subscribers but a downtick in value per order and orders per customer. So, retention and volume are issues. $960mm annualized revenue, though. May be time to try it before it goes public (or fails) and the $30 VC-subsidy disappears....