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The decision to leave my 400-square-foot Santa Monica studio apartment in exchange for my parents' large, yarded Tennessee home at the beginning of quarantine was a no-brainer… with one caveat: the food. While many delight in my hometown’s Southern comfort food, I’ve always been somewhat of a health nut, and living in Los Angeles for the past six years has turned me… extra nutty.
I’ve grown accustomed to turmeric-infused lattes and artisanal oat milk ice cream on every corner, so returning home to butter-and-cheese-enrobed everything is an ordeal that typically leaves both myself and my family on edge. Thankfully, I’ve found Thrive Market.
Costco Meets Whole Foods
Thrive Market is an online, membership-based grocer on a mission to deliver accessible, top-tier, healthy groceries. Simply put, it’s an online cross between Costco and Whole Foods -- once you choose an annual membership of $59.95 ($5 per month) or monthly membership of $9.95, you receive access to over 6,000 consciously-curated products that cost 25-50% less than retail price. The site offers everything from kitchen staples and snacks to wine, beauty products, pet necessities, and household goods. Thrive Market has given me access to tons of products that I typically either can’t find, or that cost an insane premium, while home.
Healthy Grocery Delivery: How It Work
To join, the site walks you through a questionnaire that asks about your shopping tendencies (who you shop for, your dietary preferences, values that are important to you, and what you typically buy) in order to curate the optimal shopping experience for you. Once you join, you can filter products by category, diet, environmental impact, brand, and rating to ensure that what you’re buying aligns with your priorities. The site makes sure that there’s something for everyone -- they have over 70 filters for today’s growing list of dietary and lifestyle needs.
As a somewhat obsessive label-reader, Thrive Market has saved me a lot of time -- their standards are just as high (if not higher!) than mine, so I know every product has been carefully vetted to even earn a spot on their site in the first place. I’ve been delighted to find tons of vegan options like my favorite oat milk, veggie-packed pasta, and even chocolate chip cookies, both from brands I love (like Simple Mills, Banza, and Siete) and Thrive Market’s own private label. I’m most impressed by Thrive Market’s selection of healthy snacks (I tried some delicious Paleo Puffs and Almond Flour Crackers in my first order) -- and how affordable their prices are. I have a bad habit of overspending in the snack department, so I’ve enjoyed seeing retail prices literally slashed and replaced with deals on Thrive Market’s site.
The delivery experience is seamless: the site requires members to simply add products to their carts, check out online, and wait for their orders to arrive. Because my orders have been over $49, shipping has been free -- and they’ve arrived 2-3 days after I placed them. The company is conscious of its environmental impact, so they ship everything neatly together in a box made of 100% recycled materials.
The Numbers
Diving into the numbers, I’ve realized how big of a steal Thrive Market is: first, they offer a 30-day risk-free membership through their site, so there’s no reason not to at least try it. On top of that, most members save around $30 on each order, so depending on the plan you select, you’ll typically make back what you spent on your membership in 2-3 decent-sized orders. Of course, it depends how much you order, but if you’re planning to place an order once every one to two months, the membership ends up paying for itself. On top of that, a membership includes other cool features like curated shopping lists from health experts, recipes and meal plans, and an option for automated delivery of your personal necessities (like those chocolate chip cookies I mentioned).
Superior Ethics
Thrive Market isn’t just committed to providing top-tier products to their members -- they believe healthy groceries should be accessible to everyone. To deliver on this goal, Thrive Market donates a membership to someone in need (like a student, veteran, or teacher) with every purchased membership. I appreciate that the brand has created a unique opportunity for members to do something good for themselves and members of their community at once.
As someone who attempts to be conscious of where my money goes and who I’m supporting, I was excited to read that the brand is also committed to ethical practices on the supply-side. They’re conscious of their supply chain and make supporting small farmers and manufacturers a priority. By eliminating several middle-men, they have ensured that their suppliers and shoppers receive fair prices. After extensively researching Thrive Market, I feel comfortable purchasing anything they’ve listed on their site.
If you’re quarantining in a new place, are interested in adopting a healthier lifestyle, or love chocolate chip cookies, I can’t recommend Thrive Market enough. You’ll unlock tons of fun kitchen products and ingredients you never knew you needed, and you’ll receive them at an amazing price. Once you start using Thrive Market, I guarantee you’ll be hooked.
Five More Reasons To Love Thrive Market:
1. They have the highest quality standards and only sell the highest-rated, most-trusted brands.
2. Guaranteed savings with member-only prices, plus a FREE gift when you join
3. They’re considerate of their community -- they source products ethically from small farmers and manufacturers and give free memberships to community members in need.
4. They produce zero carbon waste and ship in 100% recycled materials.
5. You can try it risk-free for 30 days. If you don’t love it, cancel!
