Superfoods company Daily Harvest, which already counts Serena Williams and Gwyneth Paltrow as investors, raised a fresh $43 million in funding, and CEO Rachel Drori told Cheddar what she plans to do with the money. “We are going to invest more in transitional organics,” she said. “By partnering with farmers who are today conventional and saying, ‘Hey, we’ll be along with you for this ride, it takes three years to transition from conventional to organic,’ we can increase the total pie of organic availability, therefore drive prices down.’” Higher production costs are said to contribute to higher prices for organic foods, which can be hard to access for lower-income consumers. But the sector keeps growing anyway. The Organic Trade Association says that the market grew by $3.7 billion in 2016, making it a $47 billion industry. That drove it to a record 5.3 percent of all U.S. food sales. Drori said her company differentiates itself by focusing on frozen snacks frozen. “With our smoothies, you open it up, you see all the whole fruits and vegetables,” she said. “You fill it with liquid, you pop it in your blender. Then 30 seconds later you have something that was developed by a chef and a nutritionist.” Daily Harvest’s latest round, led by Cheddar investor Lightspeed Venture Partners, also includes celebrity chef Bobby Flay and actress Haley Duff. For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/daily-harvest-raises-43-million).

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Small grocers and convenience stores feel an impact as customers go without SNAP benefits
Some small grocery stores and neighborhood convenience stores are eager for the U.S. government shutdown to end and for their customers to start receiving federal food aid again. Late last month, the Trump administration froze funding for the SNAP benefits that about 42 million Americans use to buy groceries. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says about 74% of the assistance was spent last year at superstores like Walmart and supermarkets like Kroger. Around 14% went to smaller stores that are more accessible to SNAP beneficiaries. A former director of the United Nations World Food Program says SNAP is not only a social safety net for families but a local economic engine that supports neighborhood businesses.
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