Vertigo3d/E+ via Getty Images

Vertigo3d/E+ via Getty Images

Blue Apron (NYSE:APRN ) rallied in early trading on Thursday after announcing that consumers can purchase a selection of meal kits on Walmart's website without a subscription.

Notably, Blue Apron (APRN) is the only meal-kit provider on the Walmart Marketplace platform, which is observed to serve millions of monthly active shoppers.

"Through our work with Walmart.com Marketplace, we will be able to scale our e-commerce presence and introduce restaurant-quality meals without a subscription to a new group of customers who may not have considered meal kits before," Blue Apron Chief Marketing Officer Dani Simpson on the development.

On a broader scale, Blue Apron (APRN) said it expanding its ecosystem to drive customer growth, including through third-party sales platforms that bring significant new audiences to the company.

The new category of distribution partners will allow consumers to buy Blue Apron boxes without a subscription, removing potential barriers for trial. The boxes will be directly fulfilled by Blue Apron, maintaining the efficiency and scale of the company’s direct-to-consumer model and strong supply chain. Blue Apron (APRN) expects to continue to add more of these categories of offerings throughout the coming year.

Shares of Blue Apron (APRN) shot up 11.73% premarket to $3.43 vs. the 52-week trading range of $2.85 to $12.76.