Every time I log on to Facebook or Instagram there's always a new food delivery service popping up on my feed. We've tried a few of them here on the site (We had mixed feelings about HelloFresh and loved Chick-fil-A's limited time meal service) so we are always up to trying something new. When Daily Harvest reached out and asked if Wide Open Eats wanted to try out their new smoothie subscription service I just couldn't say no. Disclaimer: this post is not sponsored by Daily Harvest but they did provide products to sample.
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About Daily Harvest
New Yorker Rachel Drori wanted to eat healthy, but because of her hectic work schedule, finding time to prepare lavish meals was out of the question. Instead, she took to her freezer, packing fruits and veggies in portioned containers on Sunday evenings. Throughout the entire week she would grab a bag, add a liquid and blend it into a nutritious smoothie she could enjoy during her commute. Her friends started to take notice of her smoothies and slowly she started making and giving out her smoothie for her friends to enjoy too.
Thus, the creation of Daily Harvest. The company was launched in 2015 and has grown immensely since. According to Forbes, Daily Harvest has raised over $43 million in funding from Lightspeed Venture Partners and celebrities including chef and restaurateur Bobby Flay, tennis star Serena Williams, Olympic gold medalist Shaun White and actress Haylie Duff.
In an interview with Fox Business, Drori said she saved up close to $25,000 to start the company; at first, she made the food and the deliveries herself, in addition to doing all the marketing and behind the scenes work to get the business off the ground. She worked to grow strong relationships with her farmers, along with building the infrastructure they needed to pick the food at peak ripeness and freeze it within 24 hours.
Since the launch, the company has expanded to include other healthy food offerings, including harvest bowls, cookie-like bites, soups, lattes, chia bowls, and oat bowls. Each single-serve item is created with healthy eating in mind and features organic ingredients sourced from local farms at prime freshness. For example, you can order the brussels sprouts and lime Pad Thai bowl, a pumpkin and chai oat bowl, sweet potato and miso soup and hazlenut and chocolate bites.
How It Works
When it comes to making smoothies at home, one of the hardest parts is going to the grocery store and buying all of the ingredients. Most of the time I usually spend way too much money on fresh ingredients that usually end up going bad before I can add them to my smoothie. Other times I opt for a frozen bag of fruit and add in some orange juice. Not creative at all and when it comes to nutritional value, it could be better.
Thankfully Daily Harvest smoothies take care of all of that for you. The website currently features twenty-one different smoothies to choose from, each of them thoughtfully created by a team of nutritionists and chefs. From decadent cold brew + cocao smoothies to fruity dragon fruit + lychee, there's a smoothie for everyone.
In total there are four subscription plans available:
Weekly Subscription
- 9 Smoothies @ $7.75 a cup
- 12 Smoothies @ $7.49 a cup
- 24 Smoothies @ $6.99 a cup
Monthly Subscription
- 24 Smoothies @ $6.99 a cup
The best part about this meal delivery service is that everything arrives frozen in dry ice, meaning if you opt for the monthly subscription, your smoothies will taste just as fresh, months later. I love this because meal kits like HelloFresh require you to eat their meals ASAP to avoid spoilage.
The other food offerings work the same way. Daily Harvest sends you a frozen cup with everything you need for bowls, soups or lattes; all you have to do is add liquid and heat your healthy meal.
A couple of things to note. The cups are packed in dry ice; make sure you place any left over dry ice in a well-ventilated area and don't touch it with your bare hands. The liner that holds the dry ice is biodegradable and made from recycled denim, so you can either toss it or take it to a fabric recycling facility.
My Daily Harvest Review
Let's get into the nitty-gritty; my honest review of these smoothie recipes!
First off, to get an idea of what I got to sample, here are the smoothies I received:
- Strawberry + Peach
- Mint + Cacao
- Acai + Cherry
- Cacao + Avocado
- Chocolate + Blueberry
- Pineapple + Matcha
- Apple + Greens
- Oats + Cacao
- Dragon Fruit + Lychee
- Carrot + Chia
- Ginger + Greens
- Chocolate + Hazelnut
Each smoothie contains no added sugar, are gluten-free and are dairy-free. They all feature 95% organic ingredients, with one or two superfoods in each smoothie. These superfoods include maca (a Peruvian root vegetable known to boost endurance), acai (a free radical fighter), and even chlorella (algae that helps support a healthy immune system). And the best part is that these whole foods taste amazing and provides you with some incredible health benefits.
My top three favorite smoothies have to be the Strawberry + Peach, Mint + Cacao and the Acai + Cherry. I could honestly drink these every day, especially since they are so easy to prepare and drink while I am working.
Simply peel off the plastic top and fill the cup with your liquid base. This could be anything from coconut water to almond milk. Personally, I used almond milk in all of my smoothies and really loved how creamy they were.
Add the liquid and the smoothie mix to the blender and blend! Once finished, add it back to the paper cup and sip your smoothie with your own reusable straw.
Interested in trying out Daily Harvest for yourself?
Use our promo code: WIDEOPENEATS to receive 3 free cups on any size first order.
This post was originally published on May 28, 2019.
