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Farmstead, DoorDash eye longer online grocery reach

E-grocer and last-mile delivery specialist to integrate platforms

Russell Redman

April 13, 2021

3 Min Read
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The partnership will give retailers using Farmstead’s Grocery OS for online grocery delivery access to DoorDash’s delivery network and services.Farmstead/DoorDash

Online grocer Farmstead is extending its reach through a partnership with last-mile food delivery provider DoorDash.

Farmstead and DoorDash said Tuesday that they plan to integrate platforms, giving retailers using Farmstead’s Grocery OS for online grocery delivery access to DoorDash’s delivery network and services. Grocers employing Farmstead’s software will gain access to DoorDash via Drive, the delivery specialist’s white-label fulfillment platform that enables direct delivery for any business.

Farmstead’s grocery brand also will become available through the DoorDash app and website for one-hour delivery in all of Farmstead’s active markets, the companies said. Farmstead’s current markets — the San Francisco Bay area and Charlotte, N.C. — cover 19 million households, and the e-grocer said its upcoming 15-city expansion will give it access to 75% of the $1 trillion U.S. grocery market.

The partnership, too, will allow grocers using the Farmstead platform to list their brands on DoorDash’s app and websites to provide one-hour delivery from “dark” locations dedicated to online grocery service, expanding their coverage area and bolstering delivery operations, Farmstead and DoorDash said.

“Together, Farmstead and DoorDash can remove the two biggest barriers to grocery e-commerce success: order picking and packing efficiency, and low-cost, high-quality delivery with a production capacity of thousands of orders per day,” according to Pradeep Elankumaran, co-founder and CEO of Farmstead. “Farmstead’s Grocery OS facilitates efficiency inside the warehouse, and DoorDash provides the last-mile delivery logistics and marketplace platform to reach consumers. It’s a great combination that will help move the industry forward, while fulfilling the promise of e-commerce for grocery for customers.”

Related:Online grocer Farmstead goes live in Charlotte, expanding to Raleigh-Durham

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Farmstead said its upcoming 15-city expansion will bring access to 75% of the $1 trillion U.S. grocery market.

In September, Burlingame, Calif.-based Farmstead began licensing its Grocery OS platform to other grocery retailers to help meet rising demand for online grocery shopping. The solution is designed to boost the delivery capacity and profitability of retailer-controlled pickup and delivery fulfillment operations — whether from a supermarket, “dark store” space or delivery-only warehouse — and enable self-management of marketing, order picking, packing and delivery. Farmstead has said its platform supports last-mile one-hour delivery (five-mile radius) and batched same-day delivery (50-mile radius) for very low or no delivery fees, with no added per-order fees and a delivery cost to the grocer that’s typically less than $10 per order.

Related:Schnuck Markets teams with DoorDash for meal delivery

Farmstead noted that Grocery OS has enabled its own online grocery service to offer consumers prices comparable to or lower than most supermarkets, but with free home delivery. The company said it recently landed $7.9 million in new funding to fuel its national expansion. Farmstead has doubled its Bay Area delivery radius and expanded from its home base in Northern California to Charlotte, and it aims to launch service in Raleigh-Durham, N.C.; Nashville, Tenn.; Miami and at least 13 other cities this year.

“We’re excited to partner with Farmstead to support its national expansion while offering our customers even more local grocery selection on the app,” Fuad Hannon, head of new verticals at DoorDash, said in a statement. “We’re proud to play a part in accelerating the growth of local grocers and serving their local communities, with a focus on selling essential perishable staples customers need.”

For DoorDash, which went public in December after launching an IPO the previous month, the alliance with Farmstead continues its expansion into the grocery arena. Last August, DoorDash — known primarily for restaurant food delivery — announced plans to delve deeper into the on-demand grocery delivery market with the launch of its new DashPass subscription service. Initial retail partners included Smart & Final, Meijer, Fresh Thyme Market, Hy-Vee and Gristedes/D’Agostino. At the time, Hannon said the new service marks “the extension of DoorDash in the overall grocery business.”

Overall, San Francisco-based DoorDash provides on-demand delivery and logistics services to local and national businesses in more than 4,000 cities and all 50 states across the United States, Canada and Australia.

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About the Author

Russell Redman

Senior Editor
Supermarket News

Russell Redman has served as senior editor at Supermarket News since April 2018, his second tour with the publication. In his current role, he handles daily news coverage for the SN website and contributes news and features for the print magazine, as well as participates in special projects, podcasts and webinars and attends industry events. Russ joined SN from Racher Press Inc.’s Chain Drug Review and Mass Market Retailers magazines, where he served as desk/online editor for more than nine years, covering the food/drug/mass retail sector. 

Russell Redman’s more than 30 years of experience in journalism span a range of editorial manager, editor, reporter/writer and digital roles at a variety of publications and websites covering a breadth of industries, including retailing, pharmacy/health care, IT, digital home, financial technology, financial services, real estate/commercial property, pro audio/video and film. He started his career in 1989 as a local news reporter and editor, covering community news and politics in Long Island, N.Y. His background also includes an earlier stint at Supermarket News as center store editor and then financial editor in the mid-1990s. Russ holds a B.A. in journalism (minor in political science) from Hofstra University, where he also earned a certificate in digital/social media marketing in November 2016.

Russell Redman’s experience:

Supermarket News - Informa
Senior Editor 
April 2018 - present

Chain Drug Review/Mass Market Retailers - Racher Press
Desk/Online Editor 
Sept. 2008 - March 2018

CRN magazine - CMP Media
Managing Editor
May 2000 - June 2007

Bank Systems & Technology - Miller Freeman
Executive Editor/Managing Editor
Dec. 1996 - May 2000

Supermarket News - Fairchild Publications
Financial Editor/Associate Editor
April 1995 - Dec. 1996 

Shopping Centers Today Magazine - ICSC 
Desk Editor/Assistant Editor
Dec. 1992 - April 1995

Testa Communications
Assistant Editor/Contributing Editor (Music & Sound Retailer, Post, Producer, Sound & Communications and DJ Times magazines)
Jan. 1991 - Dec. 1992 

American Banker/Bond Buyer
Copy Editor
Oct. 1990 - Jan. 1991 

This Week newspaper - Chanry Communications
Reporter/Editor
May 1989 - July 1990

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