Daily Harvest

Daily Harvest was a direct-to-consumer frozen food company founded in 2015 by Rachel Drori.⁵¹⁰ Daily Harvest was acquired by Chobani in May 2025 for an undisclosed amount.⁵¹⁰

Timeline

Money raised

Daily Harvest raised a seed round of $879,833.21 from Victress Capital on March 4, 2016.¹² Daily Harvest raised a Series A round of $3.08 million on June 8, 2017, from investors including Gwyneth Paltrow, Serena Williams, and Collaborative Fund.¹² Daily Harvest raised a $43 million Series B round on December 19, 2017, led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and VMG Partners, with participation from Bobby Flay, Haylie Duff, and Shaun White.¹⁰¹² Daily Harvest raised a Series C round of $27.89 million on December 23, 2019.¹² Daily Harvest raised a $77 million Series D round in November 2021 led by Lone Pine Capital and Suttona Capital, valuing the company at $1.1 billion.¹⁰¹² Daily Harvest raised a total of $120 million across two funding rounds, according to Multiples.¹⁰ Daily Harvest's revenue was $250 million as of November 2021.¹⁰

Investors named in the sources: Lightspeed Venture Partners¹⁰¹², VMG Partners¹⁰¹², Lone Pine Capital¹⁰¹², Suttona Capital¹⁰¹², Shaun White¹⁰¹², M13¹⁰¹², BAM Ventures¹⁰¹², Haylie Duff¹⁰¹², Bobby Flay¹⁰¹², Gwyneth Paltrow¹², Serena Williams¹², Collaborative Fund¹², Victress Capital¹².

What happened

Daily Harvest was founded in 2015 by Rachel Drori.⁵¹⁰ The company started as a direct-to-consumer frozen food subscription service delivering smoothies, bowls, and other plant-based meals.²¹⁰ Rachel Drori funded the company initially with $25,000 from her savings.¹⁴ Daily Harvest raised a seed round of $879,833.21 from Victress Capital in March 2016.¹² In June 2017, Daily Harvest raised a $3.08 million Series A round from investors including Gwyneth Paltrow and Serena Williams.¹²

In December 2017, Daily Harvest raised a $43 million Series B round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and VMG Partners.¹⁰¹² The Series B round valued Daily Harvest at $180 million.¹⁰ Daily Harvest surpassed 1 million smoothie sales by 2018.⁴ In December 2019, Daily Harvest raised a $27.89 million Series C round.¹² In November 2021, Daily Harvest raised a $77 million Series D round led by Lone Pine Capital and Suttona Capital, valuing the company at $1.1 billion.¹⁰¹²

Daily Harvest reported revenue of $250 million as of November 2021.¹⁰ On April 28, 2022, Daily Harvest launched its Crumbles product line, including French Lentil + Leek Crumbles.³ Approximately 28,000 packages of French Lentil + Leek Crumbles were produced between April 28 and June 17, 2022.¹ After consuming the crumbles, hundreds of customers reported severe gastrointestinal symptoms, liver and gallbladder dysfunction, and some required gallbladder removal.¹³⁶ Daily Harvest sent a voluntary recall email to customers on June 17, 2022, mentioning gastrointestinal discomfort but not liver or gallbladder problems.¹

On June 19, 2022, Daily Harvest sent a second recall email.¹ On June 23, 2022, Daily Harvest issued a press release stating it had received 470 reports of illness and was working with the FDA.¹ The FDA reported that nearly 500 people were sickened and 113 were hospitalized.⁶ On June 27, 2022, a product liability and personal injury lawsuit was filed against Daily Harvest by an Oklahoma woman who had her gallbladder removed.¹ On July 19, 2022, Daily Harvest identified tara flour as the ingredient behind the outbreak.⁶

Daily Harvest faced criticism for its communication during the recall, with some customers saying the company was slow to share information.⁶ In August 2022, Daily Harvest announced layoffs impacting 15% of its headcount.⁶ In 2023, Daily Harvest reportedly laid off about 20% of its staff.⁵ Founder and CEO Rachel Drori stepped down about a year after the recall, handing control to Ricky Silver.⁵ Under Ricky Silver's direction, Daily Harvest worked to rebuild trust and expand into retail.⁵

Daily Harvest's products became available in thousands of retail locations including Kroger, Target, Wegmans, and Costco.⁵ In May 2024, the court granted preliminary approval of a $22,999,000 settlement with Daily Harvest and Stone Gate Foods.¹⁵ In October 2024, the court granted preliminary approval of a $7,671,000 settlement with suppliers Smirk's Ltd. and Molinos Asociados.¹⁵ On May 16, 2025, Daily Harvest was acquired by Chobani for an undisclosed amount.⁵¹⁰ Chobani said it aims to bring Daily Harvest to 'every home in America' with its manufacturing, distribution, and retail expertise.⁵

Legal outcomes

• filedAn Oklahoma woman filed a product liability and personal injury lawsuit against Daily Harvest on June 27, 2022, alleging the French Lentil + Leek Crumbles caused her gallbladder removal.¹
• filedA class action lawsuit was filed on June 27, 2022, on behalf of people harmed after eating Daily Harvest Lentil + Leek Crumbles.¹⁶
• settledIn May 2024, the court granted preliminary approval of a $22,999,000 settlement with Daily Harvest and Stone Gate Foods.¹⁵
• settledIn October 2024, the court granted preliminary approval of a $7,671,000 settlement with suppliers Smirk's Ltd. and Molinos Asociados.¹⁵
• settledOn October 25, 2024, the court entered a final judgment approving the class action settlement with Daily Harvest and Stone Gate Foods.¹⁶
• settledOn March 11, 2025, the court entered a final judgment approving the class action settlement with Smirk's Ltd. and Molinos Asociados.¹⁶

Where the founders are now

Rachel Drori stepped down as CEO about a year after the recall and remained on the company's board.⁵ Ricky Silver became CEO after Drori stepped down.⁵

Sources

1. Daily Harvest hit with lawsuit by woman who blames company for gallbladder removal, Los Angeles Times, 2022-06-28
2. The Frozen Food Startup Innovating Subscription Meal Delivery In The Time Of Coronavirus | Forbes, forbesafrica.com, 2020-04-01
3. Marler Clark files First Lawsuit against Daily Harvest in New York Federal Court, Marler Blog, 2022-06-26
4. Daily Harvest Founder Rachel Drori on the Art of the $43Million Deal (+ Full Podcast Transcript), Eleanor Beaton, 2018-04-30
5. Chobani Acquires Daily Harvest, Aims For ‘Every Home In America’, Nosh.com, 2025-05-16
6. How Daily Harvest bungled its lentil crumbles recall | Fortune, Fortune, Aug 13, 20
10. Daily Harvest Acquisition, Valuation, Funding & Investors | Multiples, multiples.vc, 6 days ago
12. Daily Harvest IPO Timeline and Financing Details - Forge, forgeglobal.com
14. Where did Daily Harvest get its first funding? - Blog, ngpf.org, Mar 7, 202
15. Court Approves Another Daily Harvest Lentil + Leek Crumbles Settlement, This Time for $7.6M, classaction.org, 2024-10-15
16. Daily Harvest French Lentil + Leek Crumbles Class Action Lawsuit and Settlement, Dreyer Boyajian LLP

How this case file was put together

Every statement on this page carries a numbered note, and every note points to a court record, a regulatory filing or a named publication in the list of sources. Each statement was checked against the text of the sources it cites before it was published: a figure, a date or a name the cited source does not contain was cut rather than kept. Allegations are shown as allegations, with their status at the time of the source (filed, charged, convicted, pleaded, settled, dismissed or pending). Quoted lessons are the words of the person or publication named with them, copied from the cited source; nothing here is our own opinion of why the company failed.

If a fact on this page is wrong, use "Report an error" below and attach the record that shows the correct fact. Every report is reviewed by a person before anything changes, and a corrected page says when it was last corrected.

All case filesfood delivery