Blue Apron Shakes Up Board as Growth Strategy Continues

Looking to bolster the next phase of its growth strategy, the meal kit company Blue Apron this week announced four new members to its board of directors, bringing experience in e-commerce, marketing, direct-to-consumer sales, digital media, operations and finance.

New board members joining the New York-based company are:

Jennifer Carr-Smith

In connection with the appointment of the four new directors, Blue Apron also announced the resignations of Brian Kelley, Tracy Britt Cool, Julie Bradley and Gary Hirshberg from the board, effective Oct. 15.

Blue Apron, which famously raced from a startup to a publicly traded spinoff only to encounter a struggle to profitably grow and maintain its user base, has been in the midst of a strategic transformation for more than a year. Like a lot of counterparts in food e-commerce, it received a beneficial jolt with the arrival of the pandemic this year, with new customers and more frequent shoppers helping it to turn a 10% sales gain and a profit of $1.1 million, in its most recently reported fiscal second quarter. The company is continuing to seek new investment, its officials said then.

“For more than a year, we have been executing our three-part return to growth plan, and these efforts have grown and strengthened our business, including consistent improvements in average revenue per customer and orders per customer, alongside the increased demand we have seen from the pandemic,” said Linda Findley Kozlowski, Blue Apron’s president and CEO, said in a release. “We believe that Blue Apron is well positioned for continued progress against our growth initiatives. I am excited to lead Blue Apron into the next phase of its growth strategy with contributions and new perspectives from Jennifer, Peter, Brenda and Barry, as we look to continue to execute on our strategies to engage current and potential customers, while driving enhanced shareholder value.”

The company said it expects the refreshed board’s skills and record of success will support the next phase of Blue Apron’s growth strategy as the company continues to invest in its product and marketing to build further operating momentum. The company remains focused on providing customers variety, flexibility and healthier options with recent efforts, including testing the ability for customers to order multiple boxes per week and plans to launch a range of new recipe customization options in the fourth quarter.

Matt Salzberg, Blue Apron co-founder and chairman added: “I am proud Blue Apron has attracted such talented new board members who have the experience and accomplishments to further advance the company’s operating and financial performance. Combined with the company's recent achievement of year-over-year growth in the second quarter and the strengthening of our balance sheet, I am confident we are well positioned to enhance shareholder value. The board unanimously approved our Board refresh process. Brian, Tracy, Julie and Gary have each been an incredible asset to us the last several years and I want to thank them for their hard work, counsel and contributions.”

Carr-Smith served as CEO of Peapod—then Ahold Delhaize’s e-commerce partner that ran a separate “pure-play” brand in the Midwest—between 2015 and 2017.

Freeman has a proven record of driving innovation and growth for world-class brands and start-ups, Blue Apron said. She is Chief Executive Officer of Arteza, a leading direct-to-consumer arts and crafts manufacturing and supply company, and current or former board director of Avnet, Caleres, Herman Miller and Under Armour.

Faricy brings career experience spanning more than 20 years of leadership in operations for major companies that sit at the intersection of technology and media. He is the former CEO of Global Direct-to-Consumer for Discovery, Inc., overseeing its DTC businesses, including Motor Trend, Food Network Kitchen, Magnolia, DPlay, Eurosport Player and GOLFTV. Prior to joining Discovery, Faricy spent 13 years with Amazon, most recently as vice president of Amazon Marketplace.