As Americans fervently turned to grocery delivery services during the height of the pandemic, many companies failed to deliver, however one brand went above and beyond customer’s expectations with speed and quality. FarmBox Direct, who trailblazed the idea of “Food As Medicine'', grew 2200%. Farmbox Direct’s projections are now at a whopping $14 Million for 2020 and doubling that with $28 million projected for 2021. This year Farmbox also began working with Medicare to provide box services to patients identified as those who need to eat healthier to manage chronic disease.
Now, Ashley is in the process of raising $10 million for her East Coast-based organic and natural produce delivery service. “The climate has changed in Silicon Valley, and VCs are welcoming because we are doing food as medicine,” she added. “We were the first to find an insurance company to work with us to help patients change their eating patterns. We are creating a new space here.”
Not taking its newfound position as a leader in fresh produce delivery for granted, CEO and Founder Ashley Tyrner is expanding how Farmbox Direct can help communities by focusing on expanding Farmbox into a lifestyle brand. It’s a big move for Tyrner who in just the past few years went from relying on food stamps to running a multi-million-dollar company.
Farmbox Direct has forged a path with "food as medicine" as the driving principle behind the brand. Tyrner says, “People now are not just eating for good health today, but they are eating for good health 10 years from now. Food is now being looked at as a preventative medicine measure, just like an active lifestyle, acupuncture, or the chiropractor”. She goes on to add “A key defining factor of our business is that we are not a meal kit, and will never be a meal kit, we were a grocery experience, and now we are a health experience. No one else is doing this''.
Months before the pandemic, Tyrner focused on growing Farmbox RX, but it was just a small piece of the business. FarmboxRX launched in partnership with Vibra Health last year to ensure that the elderly and those coming out of the hospital would have access to healthy food. Many patients don’t have food or support waiting for them back at home, and it can often result in malnutrition, prompting a return to the hospital. By utilizing FarmboxRX’s farm-to-home subscription-based service, insurers are working to stop the cycle of recurrent hospital stays and impact members with diet-related illnesses by positively improving their nutrition and health outcomes with free boxes of life-saving produce.
Now, between the immense growth, consumer feedback and insurance company outreach, the importance and need for easy online grocery shopping has become crystal clear. The landscape has not only pushed their direct to consumer business forward in a way that has never been seen before, but also caused an avalanche of insurance companies requesting to be onboarded with Farmbox RX.
Also, Farmbox is also looking at the other end of the spectrum. Last year, Farmbox Direct acquired the children-focused Harlow’s Harvest. They are now working to bring a program to the healthcare industry centered on children that would teach children how to cook, and the importance of healthy eating and nutrition.
I would love to work with you on a business feature on Ashley Tyrner and how Farmbox Direct’s new initiatives are helping create an important lifestyle brand in a brand-new category, Food As Medicine.
Founder and CEO Ashley Tyrner can provide important insights about her business, growing during a global crisis, and more on what’s next. I look forward to hearing back from you and working with you on an inspiring and important health story.
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