How to Shop for Health Food Online, for Less!
A special discount for Yahoo Food readers: Use this link to get a free two-month membership to Thrive Market and 15 percent off your first order.
Photo courtesy of Thrive Market
It’s a common refrain: “I’d buy organic, if not for the price.” But a new online retailer, Thrive Market, may have shoppers rethinking that bias.
The new enterprise, which launched last November, models itself loosely after Costco, purchasing from producers in bulk at a discounted rate, then passing along savings to customers. What sets it apart from the megastore, however, is that all of its featured products are in the health and wellness category. Think: paleo, gluten-free, organic, raw, or vegan.
Consumers will likely recognize many of the brand names available at Thrive Market: Annie’s, Tom’s of Maine, Rao’s Homemade, Bob’s Red Mill, Simply Organic, and Justin’s. (Thrive Market’s vice president of merchandising is Jeremiah McElwee, the former global executive coordinator of health and beauty at Whole Foods.)
"One of the things that we get from everybody is, ‘I can’t believe this doesn’t already exist,’" Thrive Market co-founder and vice president Kate Mulling told us. The idea—to let everyday consumers buy high-quality health food products at reasonable prices—seemed “like a no-brainer,” she said. “We get a lot of feedback from our customers that they want to be able to shop at top natural foods stores, but don’t always have them in their neighborhood or the income to be able to support the high prices they charge.”
A selection of offerings at Thrive Market. Photo courtesy of Thrive Market.
Thrive Market membership is $59.95 a year, which makes it slightly more expensive than a basic $55 Costco membership. But members would argue that the savings are the real deal—roughly 25 to 50 percent off each item’s market price—on products not often found at big-box discount stores such as Costco and Sam’s Club. It has a social mission, too: For every paid membership, Thrive Market donates a free membership to a low-income family.
Granted, Thrive Market isn’t a solution if you want to make a salad using actual produce. Its roughly 3,500 products are mainly non-perishable, and range from dehydrated kale chips to organic lavender shampoo. Still, within the nonperishable category, Thrive offers a somewhat impressive level of specificity.
Interested in going raw? Thrive Market has a bunch of products for you. Photo courtesy of Thrive Market.
"We’ve invested in [technology that allows] you to shop by values and nutritional preferences," Mulling explained. To date, Thrive Market lets consumers search through its products using filters that include six different certifications and awards; five "top values" including raw and paleo; 36 "health and ingredients" concerns; and 22 "environmental and social" issues.
"If you want to buy something that’s made in America, certified gluten-free, and GMO-free, you can do that," Mulling said.
A Thrive Market delivery arrives at its destination. Photo: ellieburrows/Instagram
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