It’s been less than a month since Blue Apron went public, and it’s already shuffling its executive suite.
The embattled meal-kit delivery service said co-founder Matt Wadiak is stepping down as chief operating officer to become a senior adviser amid nagging questions about the company’s prospects for competing against Amazon.
Shares of New York-based Blue Apron, which have lost more than a quarter of their value since the company’s June 29 IPO, on Wednesday fell 3.3 percent to $7.26 following the late Tuesday announcement.
Wadiak “has played an instrumental role in driving forward Blue Apron’s mission to make incredible home cooking accessible to everyone,” Blue Apron CEO Matt Salzberg said in a statement. “His contributions to the company have been immeasurable and we thank him for his unwavering dedication over the past five years.”
Blue Apron shares got hammered last week after it was revealed that Amazon has filed for trademarks to launch its own meal-kit delivery service.
Earlier this week, the company’s shares rebounded a bit after a slew of Wall Street banks that underwrote its IPO published upbeat reports about the stock.
Blue Apron said Tim Smith, the company’s vice president of supply chain, has been named senior vice president and general manager of consumer products, a newly created role. He will report to Salzberg.
“We believe this will enable us to cater to more households, and in turn expand our community of passionate home cooks,” Smith said in a statement.
Blue Apron also said Pablo Cussatti, a senior vice president of operations who formerly worked at Campbell Soup and PepsiCo, will also now report to Salzberg.


