On the Blue Apron Help Center web page you can find the information that the service currently doesn’t accept any form of Food Stamps or EBT. The only payment methods Blue Apron accept are Apple Pay, Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover. Moreover, you can also buy Blue Apron Meals gift cards that can be used for weekly recurring deliveries on any meal plan.
So what should people who can’t use available Blue Apron payment methods, but have an EBT card, do? There are two ways to go – get a credit/debit card or find another service that accepts the SNAP system.
Why doesn’t Blue Apron accept EBT?
The fact is that Blue Apron is not a fast food restaurant approved by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Therefore, it doesn’t accept EBT at any of its locations in any state.
SNAP, also formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, is a federal program that provides help with buying food for people with low or no income. It provides benefits that can only be used to buy food and non-alcoholic beverages. However, this applies only to those stores and services that are approved by this program.
Statistically, about 248,000 retailers nationwide participate in the SNAP program at this time. You can use the SNAP Retailer Locator provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to find nearby SNAP-approved retailers.
What do you need to know about Blue Apron?
First of all, it offers four meal plans:
- Signature.
- This two-person meal plan offers a mix of all Blue Apron meal options, including meat, fish, and plant-based meals.
- Vegetarian.
- This plan for two people includes meals that contain no meat or fish but may contain eggs and dairy products.
- Wellness.
- This two-person meal plan focuses on healthier options, such as reduced-carbohydrate meals and meals approved by Weight Watchers (WW).
- Signature for Four.
- This meal plan is for larger families, offering four adult-size servings of the service’s Signature selections.
The menu changes every week. You can choose the meals you want to prepare yourself. Some meals may fit a particular dietary pattern, such as low-carbohydrate, low-calorie, or suitable for diabetics.
Once you select a plan, you will be prompted to complete the checkout process and select a weekly delivery day. Each week you will have a certain amount of time to choose your meals. If you don’t get to choose your meals by that date, Blue Apron will do it for you. The service also offers you the option to skip weeks or change plans 5 weeks or even 5 days before your next order is processed.
For which diets is Blue Apron suitable?
Unfortunately, Blue Apron doesn’t offer diet plans such as gluten-free, vegan, or keto. Instead, as part of a weekly menu, Blue Apron offers recipes that fit certain dietary needs, such as:
- 600 calories or less: reduced-calorie, 600 calories or less per serving.
- Vegetarian: no meat, but may include dairy products, eggs, and honey.
- Diabetes-friendly: meets American Diabetes Association guidelines.
- Carb conscious: contains 48 grams of net carbs (total carbs minus fiber) or less per serving.
- Mediterranean diet: inspired by the heart-healthy Mediterranean diet.
- WW-approved: emphasis on vegetables and lean proteins; WW (formerly Weight Watchers) score information is provided for these meals.
- Plant-based diet: contains only small amounts of meat or fish.
It may be that each week you won’t be offered enough of these options to fill your order with one particular type. Therefore, Blue Apron may not be the best choice for people with special dietary needs or preferences.
How to buy a Blue Apron Meal gift card
If you want to purchase a gift card on Blue Apron, follow these instructions:
- Go to the Gifts web page.
- Then select the “Meal” option and “Gift Amount”. You can choose from $70, $140, and $280.
- After that, enter the number of gift cards you want to buy and click “Add to Cart”.
- Finally, click “Proceed to Checkout” to fill in your payment information and place your order.
After your purchase, you should receive two separate emails to the email address you provided at checkout. One email will serve as proof of purchase, and the second will be a gift email with the unique information you need to use the gift.
The gift email will give you the option to print a PDF file as a gift card or simply forward the email to the recipient.
