Fan-favorite food brand talks finally hitting grocery stores nationwide: 'We make it really easy to make one good decision a day'

Nearly a decade ago, Daily Harvest launched the innovative idea to deliver organic smoothies right to your doorstep, frozen and ready to blend. Now, nearly 10 years later, the startup is ready to expand and "meet customers where they are." 

It's partnering with DoorDash and mainstream grocery stores nationwide to give shoppers more places to get smoothies and other healthy frozen meals.

"We make it easy to have those food items delivered to you or available in your grocery store," CEO Ricky Silver told The Cool Down in an exclusive interview. "And then we make it really easy to make one good decision a day or multiple good decisions a day that lead to a really great outcome health-wise."

Silver walked TCD through how Daily Harvest has reached "green unicorn" status, getting to a $1B+ valuation — and how its frozen plant-based meals can make it easier for us to eat healthy, while also being better for the planet.

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📫 From DTC darling to DoorDash delivered

Daily Harvest started as a direct-to-consumer brand that would drop frozen smoothies and grain bowls at your doorstep. And now it's expanding further so that shoppers can find Daily Harvest products in grocery stores like Kroger, Wegmans, Harris Teeter, Natural Grocers, Costco, and Target, often at lower prices than online — as well as available to order on DoorDash in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, and Seattle.

"There's still a very large subset of customers that are not buying food online and don't intend to, and so part of meeting customers where they are is now showing up in grocery stores near them," Silver said. "We felt it was time because we had really built an incredible brand within the direct-to-consumer world that gives you that more one-to-one relationship."

"What I get most excited about with grocery stores is the opportunity to let folks that know about Daily Harvest try us at a much easier entry point," Silver told us. "When you think about the ability to walk down your aisle or your Costco and find a strawberry peach Daily Harvest smoothie, whether you're buying one or in the case of Costco four, I am very confident when you try that smoothie, you're going to be intrigued by what else Daily Harvest has to offer.

"You can't do what we're trying to do without great partnership. … We've been very lucky to have great partners on the other side."

❄️ How frozen food makes it easier to eat healthy

We've all been there: After a long day, the last thing you want to do is figure out what to cook for dinner. The quick fix is usually expensive or unhealthy takeout — or a PB&J over the kitchen sink. 

"I don't think there are many folks that aspire to not eat healthy, but the choices around them are not always making it easier," Silver told us. "Our objective [is] to reduce that friction between everyone's intention of eating healthier."

By freezing its plant-based, organic foods, Daily Harvest gives customers more healthy options in their freezer to reheat whenever, without worrying about rapidly approaching expiration dates.

"At the end of the day, it needs to feel easy. It needs to feel obvious for people to really form habits," said Silver. "I think one of the things that resonates the most with Daily Harvest customers is … we make it easier for them to choose what they're looking for."

💡 Connecting the dots between food and success

Silver is seeing firsthand how more and more customers are realizing the benefits of healthy, plant-based food. "What's been exciting for me … is there is a greater awareness now about that connection to … your potential to achieve your goals and the food that you're eating."

To that end, Daily Harvest has partnered with programs like Whole30 to provide specific dietary bundles to customers. "We also have the science and the nutritional chops [for] developing our food and designing what works for folks. ... If you've just been recently diagnosed with diabetes, for example, we can help curate a bundle of offerings that help you really specifically address that challenge."

"I think we play at the intersection of human health and human emotion incredibly well as a brand," Silver said. "But I also think that it is genuinely backed by an objective truth: Organic fruits and vegetables are good for you."

🌳Helping the planet, one almond at a time

Going plant-based for more meals can help customers save money and improve their health. Not to mention, eating one fewer burger per week can remove as much pollution as taking a car off the road for 320 miles over the course of a year. 

Beyond offering limited-prep, plant-based meals, Daily Harvest is leading the climate charge on multiple other fronts. For example, since many Daily Harvest products include almonds (particularly as a dairy milk alternative), the company has joined forces with farmers, scientists, and other food brands like Simple Mills and Capello's to improve soil health on almond farms in California, where 80% of the world's almonds are grown. 

The goal is to ensure we can enjoy almonds well into the future, despite a warming planet. That's because almond orchards require large volumes of water, and increasing temperatures and droughts (especially out West) are putting almond production at risk.

The Almond Project is a "great example of a little bit of the Avengers assembling to make an influence," said Silver. "The program is basically a five-year study to evaluate the impact of different regenerative and organic practices on the health of the soil — on the efficiency of the almond crops. And what was awesome to see is we're not waiting five years to have an influence. That influence is already emerging by simply working together."

"I think it's a really beautiful example of brands working together behind the scenes and uplifting farmers and uplifting challenges that would not happen on their own," Silver said. 

"We might all be competing out there for 'share of stomach,' as they say, but the future of the planet depends on us all working together."

Daily Harvest also supports underrepresented farmers make the transition to organic and regenerative farming. "There are a lot of realities at play that make it harder for organic to be growing in the way it should. We want to be part of the solution," said Silver, "and we want to bring our customers along to be part of the solution as well."

🍝 Favorite Daily Harvest option?

"Our new pasta offering has changed my life. … I was a personal chef for a number of years when I first moved to New York, and I still love to cook. And so this is one of the first items in a while that I have [been] … consistently adding to our dinner table," Silver told us.

"Our pastas are gluten-free and vegan and delicious. Our latest, our mac and cheese, is now a new staple for me as well."

💚 Favorite sustainable product?

Silver is a big fan of the NYC Smart Compost app, which helps you find curbside compost bins throughout the New York area. He told us he loves that you don't have to remember what day to put your compost bin out — you can just drop it off whenever you want.

🗣️ Anna Robertson conducted this interview for The Cool Down. 

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