Daily Harvest is a plant-based meal delivery service providing a variety of ready-to-eat smoothies, oat and chia bowls, flatbreads, harvest bowls, soups, snacks, and even lattes.
The company aims to make eating healthier easy and delicious by helping provide more fruits and vegetables in your diet.
This article takes a closer look at the pros and cons of Daily Harvest, as well as who may benefit from trying it.
Daily Harvest started as a prepackaged, frozen smoothie delivery service. Since then, it has expanded to include meal and snack options for any time of day.
The company prides itself on using fruits and vegetables as the foundation of each of its products.
It currently offers more than 80 plant-based menu items to choose from, including a variety of smoothies, breakfast bowls, harvest bowls, and soups.
You select the menu items you want, and they arrive on your doorstep, completely frozen.
In April of 2020, Daily Harvest announced it was working toward becoming 100% recyclable.
In fact, the company is already partway there, as its cardboard delivery boxes, cups, bowls, and insulated dry ice bags are either recyclable or compostable.
In addition to being vegan, all of Daily Harvests items are gluten-free with zero additives or preservatives.
Unlike other meal delivery services, Daily Harvest does not offer predesigned menus. Instead, customers get to choose which items they want to receive each week.
Current plans include a weekly delivery of 9, 12, or 24 items, or a monthly delivery of 24 items.
Customers can order online or through the Daily Harvest smartphone app. Using their online account, they may also skip weeks, swap out selections, and manage deliveries.
Once you choose your plan, you can select your meals from more than 80 chef-crafted options, including:
Note that most of the items come with one serving per order. However, the snack bites, ice creams, and lattes contain multiple servings per order.
Daily Harvest makes its meals with high quality, plant-based ingredients. Meals are free of additives, preservatives, and fillers.
The company describes its ingredients as being thoughtfully sourced. It says it works closely with farmers and food suppliers to ensure optimal quality.
While it uses some conventional produce, 95% of the ingredients are organic.
The company also aims to avoid pesticides. Certain types of nonorganic produce tend to have high pesticide residues, according to the Environmental Working Group. Daily Harvest specifically avoids these by selecting organic versions of these fruits and vegetables (1).
All of Daily Harvests meals are vegan and feature a base of fruits and vegetables.
Meals also commonly include other high quality, plant-based ingredients, such as nuts, seeds, whole grains, spices, herbs, and powders like matcha and cacao.
Sweeter options, like its ice creams, bites, and lattes, are either sweetened with fruit or contain natural sweeteners like organic maple syrup.
An important thing to note is that consumers need to provide their own liquids. For example, youll need plant-based milk to make a smoothie or your own broth to reheat one of the soups.
In-house nutritionists and chefs craft Daily Harvest recipes with high quality ingredients.
To ensure freshness, all of the items arrive at your door frozen and packaged with dry ice.
Once you get your meals, they should last for up to 3 months in the freezer.
You can reheat items like soups, harvest bowls, and oat bowls in the microwave or on the stove. You may want to heat the flatbreads in either a traditional oven or toaster oven.
Meanwhile, you can eat the bites and ice creams straight from the freezer.
In addition to being fresh, Daily Harvests items are flavorful because they use produce thats frozen at peak ripeness. They also include herbs, spices, and homemade sauces.
However, those looking for variety week-to-week may find the meal service repetitive after a few orders. The company has more than 80 items on its menu but does not add new items regularly.
All of Daily Harvests meals, snacks, and lattes are plant-based, vegan, gluten-free, and made to support a balanced diet.
However, because customers need to provide their own milk and broths for some of the items, its up to the customer whether these meals remain vegan and dairy-free.
Many of the items are too high in carbs to be suitable for keto or other very-low-carb diets. Also, while some items may be paleo-friendly, the meals are not designed with the paleo diet in mind.
Furthermore, the meals are not specifically designed to be low in salt or fat. However, the nutritional information is available for each item, so you can pick and choose suitable options for your specific health needs.
Its also important to note that most of the meals are generally lower in calories and protein. As a result, they may not be filling enough or provide adequate calories and nutrients, depending on your individual needs.
Finally, Daily Harvest may not be a good fit if you have severe food allergies. Allergen information is available for each item, but all of the items are prepared in the same facility, so cross contamination could occur.
Daily Harvest does not claim to help support weight loss. Instead, its designed to simply help people eat more healthy, plant-based meals.
That said, most entres contain 400 or fewer calories, so some individuals may find themselves losing weight by using Daily Harvest.
Depending on your current calorie intake, replacing some or all of your meals with Daily Harvests lower calorie options could result in a reduction in your overall calorie intake and subsequent weight loss (2, 3).
Additionally, studies have found plant-based diets are associated with weight loss and a reduced risk of obesity (4, 5, 6).
However, research has also shown that a higher protein intake can increase feelings of fullness and help people lose weight (7, 8).
Because many of Daily Harvests options are lower in protein, with 20 or fewer grams per serving, some individuals may not find the meals to be filling enough on their own.
Its also important to note that the nutrition facts for each item do not include any liquid that customers need to add themselves.
Finally, whether you lose weight using Daily Harvest also depends on many other factors, such as other foods youre eating throughout the day and your physical activity level.
The cost of Daily Harvest depends on which items you choose and how many items you order at once. Discounts are offered on larger orders.
Item prices range from $5.99 for oat and chia bowls to $8.99 for harvest bowls, flatbreads, and pints of plant-based ice cream.
However, the more items you order, the more money you save on your full order:
Shipping and taxes are included in the base price of each item, so there are no surprise costs at checkout.
You also have up until 6 p.m. Eastern Time on the Sunday before your planned delivery to modify or skip your order. You can make changes to orders via the Daily Harvest website or app.
For new customers, Daily Harvest is currently offering $10 off each of the first three orders.
Daily Harvest provides high quality, plant-based meals and snacks that are convenient and flavorful.
It may be a good option for those looking to eat more plant-based meals without having to spend extra time in the kitchen.
Because you get to choose which items are included, Daily Harvest is also a good choice if youre looking for easy breakfasts, lunches, or snacks to enjoy throughout the week.
However, each meal contains just one serving, so Daily Harvest is not a great option for families.
Additionally, the items can get quite expensive and may not be filling enough if youre relying on Daily Harvest for all three meals each day.
The majority of entres contain fewer than 400 calories per serving, so many adults will need to order additional servings or incorporate other sources of calories into their meals to meet their daily nutritional needs.
Therefore, it may not be ideal for those on a tight budget or hoping to avoid additional food shopping for the week.
Finally, Daily Harvest may not be a good option for people with special dietary needs or preferences.
In particular, the companys emphasis on fruits and vegetables and avoidance of animal-based products makes it poorly suited for keto, paleo, and many other low carb diets that often incorporate animal products.
Daily Harvest provides delicious, high quality meals and snacks that arrive frozen at your doorstep and are quick to prepare.
It offers a variety of vegan and gluten-free smoothies, oat bowls, chia bowls, grain bowls, soups, and flatbreads. This makes the service a convenient option for those looking to incorporate more healthy, plant-based foods into their diet.
However, Daily Harvest is relatively expensive and may not be ideal for individuals with severe food allergies or those on certain diets.
Finally, because many of the items are relatively low in calories and require additional liquid to prepare, youll likely still need to buy additional groceries for the week.
Get started with Daily Harvest here.
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Daily Harvest Review: Cost, Pros, Cons, and More - Healthline
