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There is a difference between meal kit companies like Hello Fresh, Blue Apron, and Plated and fully-prepared companies like Thistle or Freshly. The value-prop of not grocery shopping is there for both but one doesn't require cooking, which is important to some people and one takes the guesswork out of cooking to hopefully make you a better cook, which is important to some other group of people. There is also a difference between those companies and delivery services. Even though UberEats will deliver you freshly made food, you have to order it every day and need to wait for it to be delivered. With these other services, the packages are just delivered to your door in a box and you only need to place the order once a week.

Delivery is expensive, so these services are out of reach for your average consumer. However, when you think about it, the people most likely to get a ton of value from prepared foods are people most likely to have a busy job where they make a higher wage than the average consumer.

Additionally, user-retention metrics in weekly subscription services can be misleading. If you're still ordering 52 cycles after signing up, you're likely a whale for the service.