• by Teresa Buyikian , November 21, 2023

Daily Harvest, best known for its home delivery of healthy vegetarian, light preparation food, recently collaborated with New York-based fashion brand Dauphinette to promote the launch of the company’s gluten-free pasta dishes. The new offerings include Zucchini + Gigante Bean Primavera, Tomato Basil + Portobello Bolognese and White Bean + Spinach Pesto.

Dauphinette designer Olivia Cheng’s collection features pasta-inspired home items, such as coasters and serving trays, as well as a bespoke, hand-sewn pasta dress, which contains over 300 pieces of real pasta quilted between clear vinyl, available here for $2,295.

According to the company, the pasta addition has been the brand’s most successful launch to date, selling more than 20% above any previous launch in its first two weeks.

QSR Insider asked Daily Harvest Vice President of Marketing Chondita Dayton about the unique collaboration, and how it fits into the brand’s marketing mix.

QSR Insider: Where did the idea to work with Dauphinette come from?

Dayton: During a brainstorming session prior to our pasta collection launch, our creative director shared an article about “Pasta Girl Fall'' and we started to look into different brands outside the food space that were doing unexpected things with pasta -- like candles, jewelry, home goods and more. Through that exploration, we discovered Dauphinette. We loved the look of botanicals, fruits and vegetables suspended in transparent resin, and their whimsical brand voice was a good match for ours.

QSR Insider: Why Dauphinette?

Dayton: Olivia’s focus on vibrant colors, quality craftsmanship and her underlying sustainability message were a perfect match for Daily Harvest, which is on a mission to improve human and planetary health by making it convenient to enjoy more sustainably grown, organic fruits and veggies every day

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QSR Insider: Can you discuss the company's overall marketing strategy?

Dayton: It has evolved over time as our business has grown. We have increasingly diversified our approach across all levels of the funnel, particularly as we’ve expanded our business to include both direct-to-consumer and grocery.

With our exciting Kroger launch this summer, we have been thinking about how to both maximize top of the funnel awareness as well as pursue targeted shopper marketing tactics. We think of our retail expansion as a second launch for the brand, and with that opportunity, we’re getting back to the basics to explain the core value proposition of Daily Harvest to new consumers

We also have moments throughout the year that are particularly relevant… January is also an important time of year for us, because so many people are looking to set new habits around their health and we make it easy for people to stick to those goals. Acquiring a subscriber or a new grocery store customer is just the beginning of what we hope is a long-term relationship.

QSR Insider: How does this collaboration fit in with your marketing strategy?

Dayton: We think of partnerships as amplifiers that allow us to access new audiences and share something surprising, fun and engaging. As mentioned above, when we started brainstorming about great pasta partnerships, "Pasta Girl Fall'' was making headlines and trending on social media. We were thrilled to discover our launch was coinciding with what is a cultural flashpoint for pasta. Though in our book, it's always a great time for pasta.

QSR Insider: So many home food delivery services solely market with promotions, but this collab is original and brand-focused. Is this an indicator of more brand-focused marketing to come from Daily Harvest? Why?

Dayton: A promotion strategy is a part of a company’s lifecycle marketing toolkit. We have always tried to focus on showcasing the value we provide to our members as a way of building long term loyalty. We offer incentives in the form of volume-based discounts to encourage folks to level up their order. In grocery, we promote with trade deals, digital coupons and targeted media to drive awareness and trial.

Health and healthy eating can be serious topics with a limited reach. By seeking inspiration in the creativity that drives our culinary team and our raw ingredients, we can authentically connect to other brands outside of the food space. We're definitely planning to continue to work with other mission-aligned brands and creators to bring surprising, unexpected dimensions to our marketing mix.

QSR Insider: What are you hoping to gain from this collab? How would you define its success?

Dayton: By designing a gift-with-purchase offer for new Daily Harvest members as well as an opportunity for shoppers to buy the coasters, trays and bespoke dress from Dauphinette directly, we’re able to reach a broader potential audience. For this partnership, success is selling out of the limited-edition items and spreading the joy of Daily Harvest and Dauphinette to brand-new customers.

QSR Insider: Any future collabs coming up?

Dayton: We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention our other timely pasta collection collaboration: Brooklyn-based apparel brand Bandit Running. We partnered with Bandit to give New York City Marathon participants a taste of our pasta at a multi-day pre-run popup at Shopify NY in SoHo. As hundreds of athletes prepared to lace up their shoes for the main event, they enjoyed food, drinks, exclusive apparel and went home with our pasta.

One of the most exciting new additions to Daily Harvest’s business strategy is our ability to curate food collections for specific dietary needs and preferences. We’ve launched several partnerships in recent months and have more in the pipeline. A few examples include our partnership with the Plant-Based Whole30® 5-day Meal Plan, the Diabetes-Friendly Collection with Season Health, the New Moms Box with Marma Health and the Gut-Friendly Collection with Abyle Health.