According to tech news site Re/code, Whole Foods and Instacart have signed a new partnership agreement that solidifies the courier service as the exclusive delivery affiliate for Whole Foods’ perishable business. The terms of the deal, a five-year agreement, have not been made public, but Instacart’s commercial arrangements generally include a provision for revenue sharing….
Handpick, a recent startup based out of California, first began as a recipe-recommendation app for smartphone users. According to The Next Web, the application, which is available on iOS, offers users recipes based on ingredients already in their possession. Now, the company joins the fray of new businesses and traditional grocers that are attempting to…
Food waste remains a problem, and what better day to highlight new solutions than Earth Day? A new app from Cornell University, FMI, and USDA aims to alleviate food waste by removing the uncertainty about whether or not food is still safe to eat. David Fikes of FMI reports that 20 pounds of food per…
83% of families purchase organic products, says a new study from the Organic Trade Association (OTA). In the sixth year of the study, this number has climbed 10 percentage points, aligning with the overall increase in consumers’ awareness and trust in the organic seal. The majority of American households have purchased organic at least once;…
Overstock has kicked off a new partnership with local farmers to deliver fresh produce to your doorstep. The new service, called Farmers Market, connects consumers with small and local farms in their areas, providing access to seasonal, healthy food. At launch, the service reached about 20% of the US population, but Overstock has since expanded the…
Specialty food is trending up. Consumers everywhere are looking for unique food products, often international and often natural, organic, and locally sourced. According to the Wall Street Journal article below, the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade estimated that sales reached a new record high of $88.3 billion in 2013. Venture capitalists have invested…
The USPS announced plans to expand its early-morning package delivery service pilot for 2 years in San Francisco. Currently, the USPS delivers Amazon Fresh totes to consumers’ homes during a 3 a.m. to 7 a.m. delivery window. The approved pilot would allow these operations to continue, and open up the pilot to additional retailers and…
The CPG industry went through a period where stores built supercenters large enough to require GPS systems in order to navigate. Those days are over. Today, most retailers are developing smaller formats for neighborhoods or urban environments. The recession enticed many non-grocery channels to expand their grocery offerings. Mass merchandisers, like Walmart and Target, have…
