Graze has taken the UK by storm starting in 2009 it has revolutionized “snacking.” Founded by seven friends who were tired of eating unhealthy snacks that never seemed to satisfy them. They ventured out to see if it would be possible to send fresh snacks through the mail. Little did they know it works and has made them wildly successful.
The packages come in your mailbox monthly and typically cost $7 per box. Boxes contain four individually packaged and pre-portioned snacks. Full nutritional info can be found online, though each package is labeled with a symbol that describes its health benefit, from having a serving of fruit to being a source of protein. Customers can put preferences in and any allergies they might have.
Co-Founder Ben Jones said this of the origins of the company, “We needed snacks that tasted delicious and didn’t make us feel guilty afterwards. So we started mixing our own snacks together using the tastiest ingredients nature had to offer.” This is a really awesome start-up with some legitimate competition, it will be interesting to see who emerges as the leader in this market.
Graze takes an idea that has worked in other markets such as fruit or flower of the month clubs and applies it to the different more on trend market of healthy snacks. While the markets are related and not completely different, exaptation is still seen somewhat in this business venture.
The recent explosion of subscription services of all kinds shows how valuable it can be for a company to make little things like buying razor blades or snacks a little easier. With Graze, there is also the potential to make advertising fees by accepting snacks from other niche companies to include, promoting new brands.
Just as Matt has said, I have also seen an explosion of subscription serves. I particularly notice this service in the fashion industry. It will be interesting to see how well these companies do in the long run and how they change tradition retailing. I assume that big name brands will start to extend the “traditional” store through robust shipping services.