This Start-Up Company Aims to Sell Fruit to Co-Eds

A new start-up company features a business model that offers college students healthy eating alternative to the mountains of junk food they typically exist on. Is it a fruitless endeavor?

The company was founded by two sophomores at the University of Michigan, who claim that there is a huge, unmet demand for healthy eating choices on campuses across the country.

Their business – called Fruit Fairies – offers weekly deliveries of healthy food baskets. Each Sunday, subscribers to the service will get an assortment including fruits, vegetables, nuts/seeds, fruit-snacks, and Soylent.

According to the Fruit Fairies co-founders, more than 60% of students surveyed wished to improve their diets, but felt frustrated by a lack of on-campus options.

The young entrepreneurs are convinced that they could have a nationwide market for this service, and have put this to the test by launching a crowd-funding campaign on Kickstarter. They also entered elimination-style entrepreneurship competition called “The Startup,” and made it to the semi-finals.

Will the Fruit Fairies succeed, or is this another case of people trying to do the improbable, (i.e., getting college students to eat healthy food)? Only time will tell.