Fresh Connect has expanded its offering from a single produce card to four specialized medically supportive grocery cards, paired with a new companion app that gives cardholders clarity on what is approved under their program.
Since its launch in 2020, Fresh Connect has helped health plans, healthcare providers and community partners deliver access to $12.3 million worth of fruits and vegetables via a prepaid debit card for more than 23,000 people in 15 states.
With the expanded line of prepaid cards, cardholders can now buy a broader set of grocery items across all aisles while still meeting the nutrition criteria that make food prescriptions effective.
Each card type is powered by an Approved Product List (APL), a set of eligible items defined by specific nutrition criteria, ensuring every transaction supports better health outcomes.
Each APL was developed with a multidisciplinary advisory committee of registered dietitians, nutrition scientists, healthcare partners and community‑based organizations.
Fresh Connect now offers four cards:
- Produce: Covers fresh produce only.
- Produce+: Expands access to fresh and frozen produce without additives.
- Grocery: Provides access to items across most grocery categories that meet recommended nutrition standards.
- Grocery Rx: A medically tailored list of items across most grocery aisles, designed for people at risk of or living with diet‑related disease, aligned with stricter nutrition standards.
“Determining which foods should be included in medically-tailored food as medicine therapies requires scientific attention and clinical care,” said Dariush Mozaffarian, director of the Food as Medicine Institute at Tufts University.
“I’m excited to see these new options for food as medicine programs, which can be implemented and evaluated for their impact on health, well‑being, and quality of life. It’s time for food to be prioritized in our health and health care systems.”
Fresh Connect launched the new card types with a select group of customers to refine the offering and ensure the platform delivers a dignified shopping experience.
“This work is hard. It demands a true commitment to the principles of food as medicine and an equal commitment to ensuring every cardholder has a frictionless, joyful experience,” said Josh Trautwein, CEO of Fresh Connect. “We believe food is the foundation of a healthy and happy life, and expanding Fresh Connect into the full grocery store is how we make that real for more people.”
About Fresh Connect
Fresh Connect provides health plans, providers and community partners with a medically tailored prepaid debit card backed by proprietary Approved Product Lists and a technology platform to address food insecurity and diet‑related chronic diseases. The platform is accepted at more than 20,000 retailers nationwide.
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