Chobani Acquires Daily Harvest, Aims For ‘Every Home In America’

Plant-based smoothie and meal maker Daily Harvest has been acquired by Greek yogurt giant Chobani. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The deal marks Chobani’s second major acquisition in less than two years, following its acquisition of coffee company La Colombe for $900 million in 2023. Per a press release, Chobani said it aims to bring Daily Harvest to “every home in America” with the support of its growing “manufacturing, distribution, and retail expertise.”

The news also comes as Daily Harvest has been making major moves of its own. Founded in 2015, Daily Harvest has evolved from a DTC, better-for-you meal delivery brand into a growing retail operation. The company has refined its product assortment, discontinuing underperforming products like its plant-based milk concentrates, and repositioning other items for retail.

The brand’s portfolio – spanning ready-to-heat meals, smoothies, breakfast bowls, bites and more – is now sold in thousands of doors across the country including Kroger, Target, Wegmans, Costco and others. Daily Harvest introduced a new line of high protein smoothies in January as well as additional globally inspired frozen meal SKUs including a Creamy Tomato + Red Pepper Vodka Style Pasta and Sesame Fried Rice + Edamame.

The company has raised upwards of $133 million during its lifespan and in 2021 reached a valuation of $1.1 billion, per Bloomberg.

But Daily Harvest’s growth hasn’t come without challenges. By 2022 its position in the market fell after a newly launched product, plant-based meat crumbles, was linked to severe gallbladder issues in nearly 400 consumers. That line was later recalled but the business suffered and came under fire for mishandling communications in response to the incident.

About a year after the recall, founder and CEO Rachel Drori stepped down and handed off control to chief supply chain office Ricky Silver; Drori remained on the company’s board. Under Silver’s direction, Daily Harvest worked to rebuild trust with consumers and grow the business within grocery. The company’s chief commercial officer departed about eight months ago and in 2023 it reportedly laid off about 20% of its staff.

Chobani has been exploring different ways to unleash its potential for financial backers, at one point considering an IPO. This acquisition doesn’t take that off the table, but after several years of significant M&A and production investment spending it reached about $2.7 billion in sales in MULO plus convenience last year, according to SPINS data.

Earlier this year, Chobani announced plans to significantly expand production, including a $500 million investment in its Idaho facility to increase capacity by 50% as well as the construction of a new $1.2 billion facility in New York that it claims will bring the business into “a new dimension.”

Unlike the La Colombe deal, which brought a natural and complimentary product assortment under Chobani’s wing, the Daily Harvest deal will push the parent organization into a slew of new cold-chain categories.

“When you bring together bold ideas, good people, and a belief in better—you create something powerful,” said Chobani founder and CEO Hamdi Ulukaya, in a social media post. “We both believe food can change lives. Now we get to do it together.”