Blue Apron will start selling its meal kits in stores this year

Blue Apron is looking to bring its meal kits to actual stores and it's aiming to do so by the end of the year. The company, which has suffered falling subscription rates and share prices, has had to lay off hundreds of its employees as competition mounts in both the subscription realm and the brick-and-mortar domain. Companies like HelloFresh and Plated have snagged some of Blue Apron's market share and as retailers like Walmart, Amazon and regional grocery chains like Kroger begin to offer their own meal kits, customers are increasingly able to buy them without committing to a subscription like they have to with Blue Apron.

Aware of the limitations that come with a purely subscription model, Blue Apron is now looking to boost its revenue by selling its product in stores. "The access to consumers is much broader in this avenue than the avenue we've been operating in in the past," Blue Apron CEO Brad Dickerson told the Wall Street Journal.

There's no word yet on which stores will sell Blue Apron's kits, but the company has said that it's in active talks with a number of retailers, some of which already sell their own meal kits. Blue Apron also hasn't specified what it will charge for its in-store meal kits.