Farmstead Starts Delivering in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina
Pioneering e-grocer Farmstead has now begun delivering groceries in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina. The company opened its 1,000-person waitlist for the area last November, and the list reached capacity in less than a week, indicating high interest in the new grocery option.
“There’s nothing like Farmstead currently in Raleigh-Durham,” said Pradeep Elankumaran, co-founder and CEO of Burlingame, California-based Farmstead. “This area is the perfect profile for us: fast-growing; lots of young, busy families; and a population that prioritizes fresh food. We’re excited to bring them this new grocery option.”
Farmstead makes use of proprietary artificial-intelligence technology and a dark-store model — delivery-oriented warehouses serving a 50-mile radius — to maximize efficiency and lower costs. As a result, the company is able to offer prices comparable to or lower than those of most supermarkets, with free delivery to customers’ doors.
In the Raleigh-Durham area, Farmstead has established a dark store in the Forest Acres community. The service enables customers to get all of their groceries — local brands like Cheerwine and Sundrop, well-known national brands, and fresh meats, dairy and produce — from one place. Working with area farmers and national distributors to supply consumers’ preferred products, the company groups deliveries together to deliver to shoppers in a given location at the same time to help reduce carbon emissions. Customers can also enroll in a regular weekly program to get a 5% discount each time they buy the same product again.
According to the company, Farmstead’s customer base has increased by double digits, month over month, throughout 2020.
Raleigh-Durham is Farmstead’s third market: It began in California’s Bay Area and launched last November in Charlotte, North Carolina. The service has also revealed plans to expand to Nashville, Tennessee and Miami in 2021. Farmstead eventually intends to expand nationwide to a primarily mid-market audience.
