Fast, Healthy, Farm-Frozen Meals: Interview with Rachel Drori of Daily Harvest

At a time when food companies disagree about the benefits of fresh vs frozen, Daily Harvest is betting on frozen. Founded by Rachel Drori, and boasting the use of exotic superfoods, whole, organic fruits and vegetables, and no use of refined sugars or preservatives, Daily Harvest is offering up pre-prepared smoothies, soups, oats and chia puddings for busy people who want to eat healthier.

Gwyneth Paltrow and Serena Williams are betting on Daily Harvest, too. Supporters of Daily Harvest argue that frozen is a practical way to ensure your produce stays nutrient-dense from the time of harvest until it hits your table. Called "farm-frozen produce," Daily Harvest picks its ingredients at its nutritional peak so it retains more nutrients. The goal is to make healthy, organic meals more accessible, and easier to prepare, to more people.

These Daily Harvest superfoods are delivered directly to your home, and are stored in the freezer, requiring only 30 seconds prep time. The fact that food purchased in the freezer aisle is usually full of salt and preservatives was something Rachel considered when deciding on the direct-to-consumer model.

Popular with busy parents, retirees who want to eat better and well, anyone looking for a healthy, but convenient lifestyle, Daily Harvest has managed to grow to 1 million smoothie sales since its national delivery launched in 2016.

I caught up with Rachel to see fresh vs frozen and the future of Daily Harvest.

LM: Let's start by giving me a snapshot of you and the company.

RD: Daily Harvest exists to solve a modern eating dilemma: the desire to eat healthy but no time to make it happen. We bring you superfoods, super fast. As a direct-to-consumer brand, we deliver tasty foods in the healthiest format right to your freezer so that eating healthy is also convenient. Flavor combinations come in smoothies, soups, chia parfaits, overnight oats and "nice cream" sundaes so that there is something for any craving, any time of day -- and there are always new flavors and products in the works. Each cup is co-created by a team of chefs and nutritionists to ensure the highest quality of organic fruits and vegetables, and we use no refined sugars or preservatives. Our produce is picked at peak nutrition and frozen on the farm, so it's just as fresh and nutritious as the farmers market. We want to make it easy for you; all the consumer has to do is add the liquid of their choice and blend, heat or soak and in just seconds their meal prep is done.

LM: Tell me about your origin story. Why you? Why did you start this company? Where did this all begin for you?

RD: Before I started Daily Harvest, I wanted to eat well but there just wasn't enough time in the day to research, buy, prep, measure and cook every time I wanted a healthy meal. I found myself grabbing what was available for convenience sake, and it was usually something unhealthy to fulfill that mid-day hunger that comes when you realize it's 3pm and you still haven't eaten lunch. We're all balancing our jobs, families, and other daily commitments and a lot of times our diets get pushed aside. I knew there had to be a way to make superfoods accessible and easy without compromising that farm-fresh quality, which is how we arrived at developing the format and delivery convenience of Daily Harvest.

LM: What is your favorite part about starting this company.

RD: The growth we've experienced so far has been generated from consumers genuinely loving the product, and that's what keeps me loving what I do everyday. The very best part of my job though, is my team. They keep the business moving and evolving while still remaining true to our brand to provide delicious and healthy foods. When I think back to Daily Harvest's start, I was packing up ingredients in a commercial kitchen and delivering smoothies from my own car, but as the business scaled I knew I had to have people who were passionate and individually driven. I'm proud to say that is what the team is made up of today and why we've collectively grown.

LM: Talk to me about why is frozen better and what are the advantages?

RD: When we think of frozen foods, usually the first thing that comes to mind is dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets in the back of your freezer. I know most people don't think of frozen as fresh, but we're here to change all of that. Our produce is first picked at peak ripeness, which is when it contains the most nutrients, and immediately frozen on the farm within hours of harvest. This locks in all of the good stuff, including moisture and vitamins, before it's nutrient content degrades. It's like the ultimate anti-aging time capsule to deliver you superfoods that taste like they were handed to you from the farmers themselves.

LM: Tell me about the ingredients that go into making these delicious smoothies. Why superfoods?

RD: We choose our ingredients to be complex in both flavor and nutrient profile, not chemicals. Superfoods are nature's most nutritionally dense foods. Freezing them on the farm ensures they actually stay this way when you eat them. Our team of chefs and nutritionists work together to develop recipes that unlock the health benefits of superfoods and also make sure that they taste great. Often times consumers feel their options are limited because convenient, accessible, good tasting, healthy foods are far and few between. When you add the desire for superfoods into the mix you first have to find them, then figure out what to do with them and they don't always taste so great on their own. We develop flavor combinations you may never have thought of, like Dragon Fruit and Mulberry Oats or Sweet Potato Nice Cream, to develop nutrient-dense recipes that taste amazing.

This interview was originally published for Inc. Magazine, read the full interview here.