![]() |
![]() | |
Industry | Retail |
---|---|
Founded | 2014 |
Founders |
|
Headquarters | Los Angeles, California |
Area served | United States |
Products | Consumer goods |
Website | thrivemarket |
Thrive Market is an American e-commerce membership-based retailer offering natural and organic food products. [1] It was founded by Nick Green, Gunnar Lovelace, Kate Mulling, and Sasha Siddhartha. By 2016 they had raised $141 million across three rounds of funding following their launch in November 2014. [2]
Described as "Costco meets Whole Foods", [3] Thrive Market's business model is designed to simplify the supply chain by eliminating the markup typically applied by brick-and-mortar grocery stores.
For every paid Thrive Market membership, a free membership is donated to a family in need in the United States as part of the company's Thrive Gives program. [4] [5] Students, teachers, veterans, and first responders are also eligible for free memberships. [6] Thrive Market offers incentives with membership including discounts, free product gifts and samples with orders.
Thrive Market carries more than 6,900 products from over 800 brands, [6] including organic and non-GMO foods, ethically sourced meat and seafood, nontoxic home and beauty products, organic and biodynamic wine, and items for babies and kids. [5] The company allows users to filter their search results by more than 70 different diets and lifestyle choices. [7] Examples of filters include vegan, paleo, keto, gluten-free, Fair Trade Certified, and Non-GMO Project Verified. [8] As of September 4, 2019, Thrive Market is the first retailer to use the Glyphosate Residue Free certification, created by the Detox Project, a research and certification platform. [9]
Thrive Market was launched in November 2014 to address the geographical and monetary challenges that bar communities from healthy food. [10] Green and Lovelace met via Green's involvement in Launchpad LA. [11] Lovelace grew up on an organic farm in Ojai, California and saw firsthand the power of group buying as a way to both make healthy food affordable and build community. [12]
When Green and Lovelace initially tried to raise money for Thrive Market, they were rejected by more than 50 venture-capital firms. [13] They then focused on building a network of more than 200 health and wellness investors—including Deepak Chopra, Tony Robbins, and Jillian Michaels—to support Thrive Market individually. [14] As of 2016, Thrive Market has raised $141 million from Greycroft Partners, E-Ventures, Cross Culture Ventures, and Invus, as well as from celebrities including John Legend, Will Smith, and Demi Moore. [14] [15]
Thrive Market has two fulfillment centers from which distribution is made, one at Batesville, Indiana, [16] and another at Tahoe Reno Industrial Center near Reno, Nevada. They advertise delivery to 85% of the United States within two days. [2] [17] The company currently employs more than 500 people. [2]
In February 2016, Thrive Market launched a mobile app, available for iOS and Android systems. [14] [15]
Co-founders Nick Green and Gunnar Lovelace appeared on CBS This Morning in May 2016. [18]
In June 2016, Thrive Market launched an online petition asking the USDA to accept food stamps online. [19]
Thrive Market is the largest national retailer of exclusively non-GMO foods. [20] They launched their own product line in November 2015, aiming to develop affordable products in categories where there is not enough margin to cover cost. [21] They currently offer more than over 800 different Thrive Market branded items by SKUs, including coconut oil, tomato sauce, olive oil, baking goods, and spices. Thrive has launched two new Thrive sub-brands, Rosey and f.a.e. Rosey which are a line of home cleaning products and constitutes over 35 SKUs while f.a.e. currently has 55 SKUs in January 2023. [22]
During 2016, Thrive Market noted that they had given away more than 350,000 memberships. [23] Thrive Market also provided memberships and stipends for families affected by Walmart closings in Wichita, Kansas, Denver, Colorado, and Chicago, Illinois; areas affected by water shortages in Flint, Michigan; and areas affected by floods in Louisiana. [24] They work closely with the True Sioux Hope Foundation to provide healthy offerings for native communities, [25] During the 2015 holiday season, Thrive Market teamed up with Feeding America to allow customers to donate their shopping savings to the non-profit at checkout. [26] In early 2016, they launched a campaign entitled, Spread the Health, which allows customers to donate a portion of their savings at checkout with every dollar donated going directly into the shopping cart of a low-income Thrive Gives family. [27]
Soon after the petition launched, Gunnar Lovelace participated in a congressional briefing hosted by Congressman Tim Ryan and actress-activist Shailene Woodley. [28] Lovelace also met with Senior Nutrition Policy Advisor Debra Eschmeyer and USDA officials in the White House. [29] On September 25, 2016, the USDA announced plans for its pilot program for online shopping and called for volunteers to apply for participation. [30]
Thrive Market attracts new users through free trial memberships, which last one month before automatically renewing at an annual cost of $59.95 billed to the customer. [31] As a membership-based platform, Thrive Market requires new users to sign up for a free trial or paid membership to access the full website. To cancel a trial or paid membership, members must contact Thrive Market's customer service by email, phone, or 24/7 online chat support.
The most common complaints about Thrive Market membership pertain to 1) customers claiming to be unaware of a membership fee and 2) customers claiming to have difficulty cancelling their memberships. [32] After a customer provides an email address to gain access to the website or start a membership, Thrive Market delivers daily promotions and one-day-only discounts via its email marketing channel. This has resulted in some customers complaining about receiving too many emails. Customers have also filed complaints against Thrive to the California Attorney General for misleading and deceptive conduct in which coupons indicating a certain percentage off (30%, for example) are capped at small dollar amounts without any reference to the cap.
Waitrose Limited, trading as Waitrose & Partners, is a brand of British supermarkets, founded in 1904 as Waite, Rose & Taylor, later shortened to Waitrose. It was acquired in 1937 by employee-owned retailer John Lewis Partnership, which still sells groceries under the brand. Its head offices is located in Bracknell.
The organic movement broadly refers to the organizations and individuals involved worldwide in the promotion of organic food and other organic products. It started during the first half of the 20th century, when modern large-scale agricultural practices began to appear.
Costco Wholesale Corporation is an American multinational corporation which operates a chain of membership-only big-box retail stores. As of 2023, Costco is the third largest retailer in the world and is the world's largest retailer of choice and prime beef, organic foods, rotisserie chicken, and wine as of 2016. Costco is ranked #11 on the Fortune 500 rankings of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.
Whole Foods Market, Inc., a subsidiary of Amazon, is an American multinational supermarket chain headquartered in Austin, Texas, which sells products free from hydrogenated fats and artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives. A USDA Certified Organic grocer in the United States, the chain is popularly known for its organic selections. As of March 4, 2019, Whole Foods has more than 500 stores in North America and seven in the United Kingdom.
Price look-up codes, commonly called PLU codes, PLU numbers, PLUs, produce codes, or produce labels, are a system of numbers that uniquely identify bulk produce sold in grocery stores and supermarkets. The codes have been in use since 1990, and over 1400 have been assigned. The codes are administered by the International Federation for Produce Standards (IFPS), a global coalition of fruit and vegetable associations that was formed in 2001 to introduce PLU numbers globally.
M&M Food Market, formerly known as M&M Meat Shops, is a Canadian frozen food retail chain. The company is headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, and has locations in all ten provinces, the Yukon and the Northwest Territories; the company formerly had operations in the Midwestern United States under the MyMenu brand that operated between 2008 and 2013.
A product sample is a sample of a consumer product that is given to the consumer free of cost so that they may try a product before committing to a purchase.
Alpro is a European company based in Wevelgem, Belgium, that markets organic and non-organic, non-genetically modified, plant-based products, such as foods and drinks made from soy, almonds, hazelnuts, cashew, rice, oats or coconut. Alpro employs over 1,200 people in Europe and has three production facilities in Belgium, France and the United Kingdom. Alpro markets its products in Europe and beyond with the majority of its business in Europe.
Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc., is a supermarket chain headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. The grocer offers a wide selection of natural and organic foods, including fresh produce, bulk foods, vitamins and supplements, packaged groceries, meat, poultry, seafood, deli, baked goods, dairy products, frozen foods, natural body care, and household items. Sprouts employs 35,000 workers and operates more than 380 stores in 23 states.
Choices Markets is a grocer based in British Columbia, Canada, that is focused on natural, specialty and organic food.
An online grocer is a supermarket or grocery store that allows ordering via websites or mobile apps. The order can either be collected by the customer or delivered to the customer by drivers engaged by the grocer, a food delivery service, or by delivery drones and robots.
Foster & Smith, Inc. was an American mail order and e-commerce pet supply corporation based in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. The company funds PetEducation.com, a "resource for any pet owner who is seeking information."
Superdrug Stores plc is a health and beauty retailer in the United Kingdom, and the second largest behind Boots UK. The company is owned by A.S. Watson Ltd which is part of the A.S. Watson Group. It was acquired as part of the buyout of Kruidvat BV in October 2002. The A.S Watson Group is itself part of the Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison Holdings.
In marketing, premiums are promotional items — toys, collectables, souvenirs and household products — that are linked to a product, and often require proofs of purchase such as box tops or tokens to acquire. The consumer generally has to pay at least the shipping and handling costs to receive the premium. Premiums are sometimes referred to as prizes, although historically the word "prize" has been used to denote an item that is packaged with the product and requires no additional payment over the cost of the product.
Zevia is a Los Angeles-based company that produces soft drinks, organic tea, energy drinks, and mixers sweetened with stevia. All Zevia products are zero-calorie, sugar-free, gluten-free, vegan, certified kosher, and certified by The Non-GMO Project. In June 2021, Zevia filed to go public with an IPO.
Little Duck Organics is a US based privately held company, that produces certified baby and toddler organic food, sold in 10,000 groceries and retail stores. Founded in 2009 by Zak Normandin, Little Duck Organics has manufacturing location facilities in the United States and sales in more than 30 countries. The company is focused on speciality baby food and won the Most Innovative Award from Natural Products Expo West 2013.
Boxed, Inc. was an American online and mobile membership-free wholesale retailer that offers direct delivery of bulk-sized packages via the Boxed app or the website. Boxed product offering has been compared to that of Costco. It is based in New York City and was founded in August 2013 by Chieh Huang, Jared Yaman, Christopher Cheung, and William Fong.
Shipt is an American delivery service owned by Target Corporation. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama.
True Leaf Market is an organic seed and horticultural company based in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It markets under various brands, the largest of which is Mountain Valley Seed Company. As one of the major seed suppliers in Utah, True Leaf Market specializes in supplying non-GMO seeds, microgreen supplies, and wheatgrass supplies.
The retail format influences the consumer's store choice and addresses the consumer's expectations. At its most basic level, a retail format is a simple marketplace, that is; a location where goods and services are exchanged. In some parts of the world, the retail sector is still dominated by small family-run stores, but large retail chains are increasingly dominating the sector, because they can exert considerable buying power and pass on the savings in the form of lower prices. Many of these large retail chains also produce their own private labels which compete alongside manufacturer brands. Considerable consolidation of retail stores has changed the retail landscape, transferring power away from wholesalers and into the hands of the large retail chains.