Edge cases, single-cuisine specialty vs full-range meal-kit?
Two very different builds:
Single-cuisine specialty (keto-only like Factor, vegan-only like Purple Carrot, plant-protein-only like Daily Harvest):
- Simpler menu rotation, 8-12 keto recipes per week, no dietary filter UX needed (the whole brand IS the filter).
- Tighter subscriber persona; loyalty + referral is the dominant acquisition channel; AOV is higher ($75, $120 per box).
- Build complexity: ~$15k, $35k. 6-10 weeks. Shopify + ReCharge often sufficient up to 10k subs.
- Magento wins when you want to add B2B (gym chains, wellness clinics) or expand to multi-cuisine in year 2.
Full-range meal-kit (HelloFresh, Blue Apron, Home Chef pattern):
- Complex menu rotation, 20+ recipes per week across 4-6 dietary lanes (family, fit, veggie, quick, gourmet, kids).
- Dietary filter UX is non-negotiable; chef admin UI is non-negotiable; 3PL integration depth is non-negotiable.
- Build complexity: $35k, $80k. 12-20 weeks.
- Magento + custom menu rotation + Hyvä + ShipBob + ReCharge or custom recurring engine is the right stack. Shopify ceiling hits early on variant count and recurring engine flexibility.
Hybrid pattern, start single-cuisine on Shopify, migrate to Magento when crossing $5M GMV or adding multi-cuisine. I’ve done the migration both ways; Shopify → Magento is straightforward if you plan SKU mapping and subscription state migration carefully. ReCharge → ReCharge (with Magento connector) keeps the recurring engine intact and avoids the riskiest piece of the migration.