Thrive Market begins accepting SNAP EBT, broadens access to nutritious food

As part of its mission to make natural, healthy food more accessible to everyone, Thrive Market is the first online-only grocery retailer to accept SNAP EBT, the electronic transfer of food benefits from consumers to retailers.

Beginning Monday, Feb. 26, Thrive Market will accept SNAP EBT payments for orders in the contiguous United States. EBT cardholders who join Thrive Market as new members will be eligible for free memberships.

“Thrive Market’s SNAP EBT acceptance is a groundbreaking move in making healthy groceries more accessible and affordable," Nick Green, Thrive Market co-founder and CEO, said in a released statement. “Our acceptance will redefine how Americans can access healthy options, irrespective of their geography, with deliveries directly to their door.”

Thrive Market is the first online-only grocer to accept SNAP EBT payments.

All Thrive Market members have access to healthy and sustainable products, many of which are organic, at prices up to 30% below retail.

“Millions of individuals now have access to healthier foods that suit their dietary needs because SNAP EBT is now accepted on our platform,” Sasha Siddhartha, Thrive Market’s co-founder and CTO, says. “Nearly 85 percent of people who live at or below the poverty line have internet access, making it possible to get healthy groceries via online delivery—and this acceptance breaks down the barrier for the people who need it most.” An April 2020 report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services was the source of Siddhartha’s statistic.

For nearly a decade, Thrive Market has been working with the USDA to allow SNAP EBT payments for purchases from online-only grocers.  

“We’re proud to partner with Thrive Market to enable over 42 million Americans receiving government assistance to purchase healthy groceries online," said Ofek Lavian, co-founder and CEO of Forage, the mission-driven payments company powering Thrive Market’s acceptance of SNAP EBT. “Until recently, SNAP benefits could only be used in-store. With one-in-five SNAP recipients on disability and 17.1 million living in food deserts, these shoppers stand to benefit the most from grocery delivery.

“Thrive Market’s acceptance of SNAP EBT marks a monumental step forward on our joint mission of expanding healthy food options for all Americans,” Lavian added.The source of the disability statistic is a 2015 report from the Food Research & Action Center. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 2022 report on the Food Access Research Atlas is the source of the population living in food deserts, which the USDA generally defines as urban areas that are more than one mile away from a supermarket or rural areas that are more than 10 miles away from a supermarket.