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).
What to Know About Open Enrollment
A flow of recent data from the U.S. government has made one thing strikingly clear: A surge in consumer spending is fueling strong growth, demonstrating a resilience that has confounded economists, Federal Reserve officials and even the sour sentiments that Americans themselves have expressed in opinion polls.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning parents and caregivers not to buy or serve certain pureed fruit pouches marketed to toddlers and young children because the food might contain dangerous levels of lead.
Some pumpkin farmers in the West, particularly wholesalers in places like Colorado and New Mexico, are feeling the pinching effects of drought.
General Motors and the United Auto Workers union have reached a tentative contract agreement that could end a six-week-old strike against Detroit automakers, three people briefed on the deal said.
Apple's 8pm ET event Monday will revolve around its iMAC computer lineup of products which are expected to contain its new faster and three next-generation silicon chip.
McDonald's reported better-than-expected profit and sales in the third quarter.
Major stock indexes are slated to close lower this month as investors brace for the Federal Reserve's rate decision and ahead of new jobs data.
The Food and Drug Administration issued an alert and specifically mentioned 26 eye drop products from a number of brands.
Workers at a number of pharmacy chains nationwide were planning a walkout Monday and going through Wednesday.
