BURLINGAME, Calif., April 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Farmstead, the first national online grocer to offer fresh, high-quality groceries, delivered for free, at better prices the same or better than local supermarkets, announced today that it has created and launched a new feature for customers designed to reduce food waste by reminding customers what’s in their refrigerator.
Farmstead is the first online-only grocer to have precise sell-by date inventory control and automated procurement systems for perishables. As a result, most products sold at Farmstead are sourced closer to customers, and keep fresh at home longer than comparables from supermarkets.
Taking this to the next step, Farmstead’s email receipts have now been updated with ‘Eat This First’ sections to alert customers when it makes sense to consume particular products sooner than later, reducing in-home food waste. For example, the receipt might remind a customer to eat the fresh salmon in their order first.
According to a survey from the US Department of Agriculture, the average U.S. household wastes 31.9% of the food that its members obtain. Food takes up more space in US landfills than anything else. Farmstead is powering a shift in food waste by using its own advanced technology and creating innovative features that can ultimately help the food industry.
“Food waste reduction has been a core tenet of Farmstead since our founding,” said Pradeep Elankumaran, co-founder and CEO of Farmstead. “We developed our own in-house logistics and inventory software specifically to reduce food waste in our own warehouses. While a typical grocery store has 30 to 40 percent food waste, Farmstead is in the single digits. In introducing ‘Eat This First,’ we’re extending that capability out to each customer. We are the only online grocer able to deliver it due to our digitized inventory control.”
“We have the precise technology and the data to help our customers reduce their food waste at home and we think the steps we’re taking will become a model for the grocery industry,” continued Elankumaran, “and we’re calling on all grocers to think about these important issues – as their customers already are.”
Farmstead customers are automatically signed up to receive the new ‘Eat This First’ receipts via email. Customers also have the option to opt-out.
Farmstead originally launched in the San Francisco Bay area, and soon expanded to Chicago, Miami, Fla., Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham, NC, with more cities to come in 2022. Farmstead quickly becomes a local favorite in each market for its great mix of local and national brands, no-fee delivery, convenience and fair prices. Customers can choose a same-day delivery slot for one-off, every day ordering, or sign up for a free once-a-week delivery on a regular schedule. All Farmstead deliveries are batched together with other orders in the same neighborhood, to reduce carbon emissions.
More than 70 percent of Farmstead customers eventually sign up for weekly deliveries, earning additional discounts on fresh staple products they purchase regularly, while getting guaranteed delivery windows each week.
Farmstead stands out from other offerings by leveraging proprietary AI technology and a dark store model—delivery-centric warehouses that generally serve a 50-mile radius—to maximize efficiency and reduce costs. As a result, Farmstead offers prices comparable to or lower than most supermarkets, but with free delivery to doorstep. The company is growing quickly, with plans to expand nationwide to a primarily suburban, mid-market audience.
Customers can sign up for Farmstead’s service at farmsteadapp.com.
About Farmstead
Farmstead is the first national online grocery brand to offer fresh produce, locally sourced fare plus national brands, delivered for free, at the same or better prices than local supermarkets — helping suburban mass-market shoppers save precious time and money. Farmstead broke the typical grocery e-commerce model and re-built it from scratch, creating its own proprietary tech stack (Grocery OS) which orchestrates its dark warehouses. Farmstead uses proprietary data and code to reinvent perishable supply chains, reduce last-mile fulfillment costs, operate at best-in-class efficiency and reliability, and reach per-market profitability fast in challenging US suburban markets. Farmstead also licenses its Grocery OS software to other grocers to help them navigate a dramatically changing industry. Learn more about how Farmstead is reinventing grocery e-commerce at farmsteadapp.com or follow @farmsteadapp.
Media contact:
Gina Rezendes
617-640-8278
gina@big-swing.com
