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Sunbasket is a subscription
meal delivery service Food delivery is a courier service in which a restaurant, store, or independent food-delivery company delivers food to a customer. An order is typically made either by telephone, through the supplier's website or mobile app, or through a third ...
that ships members fresh, sometimes organic, and sustainable ingredients and recipes every week, allowing them to cook their own meals. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, and operates two regional distribution centers in Morgan Hill, CA and
Westampton, New Jersey Westampton is a Township (New Jersey), township in Burlington County, New Jersey, Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 9,121, an increase of 308 (+3.5%) from the ...
. It is part of the
meal kit A meal kit is a subscription service–foodservice business model where a company sends customers pre-portioned and sometimes partially prepared food ingredients and recipes to prepare home-cooked meals. Services that send pre-cooked meals are ...
industry.


History

Sunbasket was founded in 2014 by San Francisco chef Justine Kelly, former Chef de Cuisine at the Slanted Door, tech entrepreneur Adam Zbar, Tyler MacNiven, the 2006 winner of The Amazing Race and the company's head of user experience, and George Nachtrieb. Kelly appeared on
Iron Chef America ''Iron Chef America'' is an American cooking show based on Fuji Television's ''Iron Chef'', and is the second American adaptation of the series, following the failed ''Iron Chef USA'' that aired in 2001. The show is produced by Food Network, wh ...
, and had been cooking in San Francisco for 25 years. Tyler Florence, a celebrity chef, is one of its board members. By May 2015, the company was serving customers in eight states. In May 2016, the company raised $11.62M in series A funding, led by PivotNorth Capital,
Baseline Ventures Baseline Ventures is a venture capital investment firm that focuses on seed money, seed and growth-stage investments in technology companies. The company was the first seed investor in Instagram, an early investor of Twitter and has been called " ...
,
Vulcan Capital Management Vulcan Capital Management, Inc was founded in May 1997 by Ford Graham and Kevin Davis (and is a different and unrelated entity to Vulcan Capital or Vulcan Inc., two companies founded by Paul Allen.). It is a private equity firm focusing on invest ...
, Tyler Florence Group and several others. and in July, the company raised $15 million in series B funding. By July, the company had expanded its operations by opening an East Coast distribution center, and announced plans to open a third. The company grew from 10 employees from its 2014 launch to 400 in July 2016. In February 2017, the company announced a $15 million Series C funding round led by Sapphire Ventures and several others. In May, the company announced a Series C-2 round, led by Unilever Ventures, the venture capital arm of food giant
Unilever Unilever PLC () is a British multinational consumer packaged goods company headquartered in London, England. It was founded on 2 September 1929 following the merger of Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie with British soap maker Lever B ...
. The funding was earmarked to increase its coverage area by opening a distribution center in the Midwest, to go along with its two existing centers on the West and East Coast. In January 2018, the company secured a $57.9 million series D and debt segment funding round, and also announced an expansion with two new distribution centers in the Midwest and East Coast. In March, the company opened a 190,000 sq. ft distribution center in New Jersey. In May, the company announced it was working with the
American Diabetes Association The American Diabetes Association (ADA) is a United States-based nonprofit that seeks to educate the public about diabetes and to help those affected by it through funding research to manage, cure and prevent diabetes, including type 1 diabetes ...
to introduce diabetes-friendly recipes. In October, the company's meals received the
American Heart Association The American Heart Association (AHA) is a nonprofit organization in the United States that funds cardiovascular medical research, educates consumers on healthy living and fosters appropriate Heart, cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability ...
's Heart-Check certification. In November, the company announced that it was working with the
American Cancer Society The American Cancer Society (ACS) is a nationwide non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating cancer. The ACS publishes the journals ''Cancer'', '' CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians'' and '' Cancer Cytopathology''. History The society w ...
to create meals that met that organization's health guidelines. In May 2019, Sunbasket raised $30 million in Series E funding, including an investment from Unilever Ventures. In August, the company announced it was closing its
St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...
distribution center. In December 2021, Sunbasket merged with Prüvit Ventures, a keto supplement maker, in an all-stock deal, with Sunbasket and Prüvit becoming wholly-owned subsidiaries of PSB Holdings, a new holding company.


Service

The company serves customers who have strict dietary restrictions, offering paleo, gluten-free and vegetarian options, among others. It is one of the few meal kit companies that is
USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commerc ...
- Certified Organic. The ingredients are sourced from California farms.


Personnel

The company's recipes are created by Chef Justine Kelly, the former Chef de Cuisine at the Slanted Door, and a former contestant on
Iron Chef America ''Iron Chef America'' is an American cooking show based on Fuji Television's ''Iron Chef'', and is the second American adaptation of the series, following the failed ''Iron Chef USA'' that aired in 2001. The show is produced by Food Network, wh ...
. Tyler MacNiven, the 2006 winner of
The Amazing Race ''The Amazing Race'' is an adventure reality competition franchise in which teams of two people race around the world in competition with other teams. ''The Amazing Race'' is split into legs, with teams tasked to deduce clues, navigate themselv ...
, is a co-founder and the company's head of user experience.
Tyler Florence Tyler Florence (born March 3, 1971) is an American chef and television host of several Food Network shows. He graduated from the College of Culinary Arts at the Charleston, South Carolina, campus of Johnson & Wales University in 1991. He was la ...
, a celebrity chef, is one its board members.


Sustainability

In response to industry concerns about wasteful packaging in meal kits, the company set a goal to produce zero-waste packaging and developed recyclable insulation liners using recyclable
PET A pet, or companion animal, is an animal kept primarily for a person's company or entertainment rather than as a working animal, livestock, or a laboratory animal. Popular pets are often considered to have attractive/ cute appearances, inte ...
fiber; ice packs made from GMO cotton and water; and fully compostable ingredient bags.


Controversy

In 2017, Sunbasket faced a complaint that it provided non-organic meats and produce in meals which were marketed as organic. An anonymous complaint filed through the Electronic Retailing Self-Regulation Program claimed that, despite the company's advertising implying that all meal ingredients were organic and non-GMO, only some of its produce and none of its meat were organic. This claim was in-line with complaints found on sites such as Yelp that Sunbasket's advertising was deceptive. Sunbasket modified its advertising, removing mentions of organic produce from some of its marketing messaging and changing the description of its meals from "organic" to "organic and sustainable". The ESRP found these changes to be insufficient to inform consumers that Sunbasket includes organic produce when possible, but not all produce is organic. In response, when an item of organic produce is unavailable, Sunbasket will attempt to provide an organic substitute. If a substitute is not available, it will provide a conventionally grown fruit or vegetable along with a note informing the consumer of the substitution.


References

{{Reflist, 30em


External links


Sunbasket
American companies established in 2014 Companies based in San Francisco Internet properties established in 2014 Online food retailers of the United States Privately held companies based in California Retail companies established in 2014 Subscription services