Whole Foods, Instacart Offer Fast Valentine’s Floral Delivery

Whole Foods Market is exclusively offering Valentine’s Day’s flowers delivered by Instacart in as little as one hour in 15 major U.S. metropolitan areas. With prices starting at about $25 and the ability to include other Whole Foods items in the orders, the service aims to be a more convenient and affordable alternative to traditional floral delivery.

Through Feb. 15, customers can log into Instacart.com or the Instacart mobile app, choose from three bouquet options, and then use the "notes" feature to specify preferred color (subject to availability on day of delivery). Customers can also select a delivery window within one hour or two hours, or at a scheduled time. Orders can be placed as many as five days ahead.

Three bouquet choices are available on Instacart from Whole Foods: a dozen red Whole Trade roses, a dozen non-red Whole Trade roses (colors vary by region) and a 20-stem bouquet of tulips. Each bouquet arrives wrapped in seasonally appropriate paper.

As well as ordering flowers, customers can use Instacart Valentine's Day "aisle" to find chocolates, specialty cheeses, lotions or other romantic items, all curated by Whole Foods experts and available for delivery with the bouquet. All Instacart customers receive free delivery on their first order; afterwards, the cost is $3.99 for two-hour delivery or $5.99 for one-hour delivery.

All of the roses offered are Whole Trade, a certification-partnership program that ensures better wages and working conditions for farm workers, fair prices to producers and supports community improvement programs. Also, many of the flowers are rated under Whole Foods' new Responsibly Grown program, which is still rolling out across the chain.

"Our idea of a perfect match is quality and convenience, and that's exactly what we're offering customers with our Whole Trade Valentine's Day flowers and chocolates, plus great everyday essentials delivered by Instacart," said David Lannon, EVP of operations for Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods. "This is a good example of the innovative and affordable new experiences our partnership with Instacart can offer, fulfilling the mission of making customers' lives easier while delivering on our highest quality standards."

"This unprecedented Valentine's Day solution demonstrates our companies' shared commitment to innovation, value and service," added Instacart CEO and founder Apoorva Mehta. "What better time than now to offer customers a way to spend more time with loved ones, and less time running errands. Inexpensive delivery rates and Whole Foods Market's higher-quality flowers also mean customers are getting far more value for their Valentine’s dollar."

Operating more than 400 stores in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, Whole Foods employs about 87,000 team associates.

Billing itself as the only service that can deliver groceries on demand from multiple stores within an hour, San Francisco-based Instacart works with both local grocery stores and national chains such as Safeway, Shaw's, BJ's Wholesale and Costco, using a crowd-sourced approach and a pool of thousands of trained personal shoppers.