Town & Country Markets Rolls Out Zero-Emissions Grocery Delivery
Town & Country Markets has joined forces with PacWesty to offer the independent grocer’s customers an all-electric grocery delivery service. Customers place their orders online and select the home delivery option on Town & Country’s website to have groceries delivered to their doors.
Town & Country is among the first companies in Washington state to deploy a fleet of battery-electric delivery vans, having teamed with PacWesty in 2020. Originally known as a local adventure travel company, PacWesty pivoted during the pandemic to support the growing need for at-home delivery of products and services.
“As we considered entering our communities and neighborhoods, we didn’t want to show up with noise and added pollution,” explained Ryan Ritter, senior director of technology and products at Seattle-based Town & Country. “PacWesty provided the perfect zero-emissions vehicle options, enabling us to responsibly deliver groceries to our customers and stay true to our sustainable values.”
The service began on Bainbridge Island and has since expanded to Town & Country’s service areas for its Ballard, Shoreline, Poulsbo and Mill Creek stores, with the Lakemont location slated to come online later this year. The delivery vans were originally gas powered but were converted by PacWesty to all-electric as of this week, according to a Town & Country spokeswoman. Further, the vans with refrigeration are designed to employ the cooling system for the batteries to cool the cargo areas as well, eliminating the need for a fuel-driven refrigeration.
Since the service started, Town & Country has delivered about 150,000 bags of groceries, with the use of electric delivery vans having eliminated around 49 metric tons of CO2 emissions.
The grocer plans to use zero-emissions electric vehicles for grocery deliveries for all of its stores and is investing in additional EV high-speed charging stations at each store location for its delivery vans and consumers before the end of this year.
“We are thrilled to be working with T&C Markets,” said Greg Dronkert, general manager of Bainbridge Island, Wash.-based PacWesty. “They’re a pillar of the community and represent the very best of neighborhood spirit.”
The expansion of the partnership coincided with Town & Country bringing its Central Markets and Ballard Market banner under the Town & Country banner, and refreshing its store interiors. The company spokeswoman told Progressive Grocer that the grocer “began bringing all of [its] markets under the Town & Country Markets name/brand in August of 2021, starting with [the] Mill Creek Central Market [banner]. In March, Ballard Market became Town & Country Markets; the remaining Central Markets will also be renamed this year.”
Town & Country also recently debuted a new website featuring expanded digital content for an integrated, interactive and enhanced online shopping experience, allowing for online ordering with personal shoppers and scheduled delivery.
Founded in 1957 by brothers John and Mo Nakata and their friend Ed Loverich, Town & Country operates six local family-owned and run markets across the Puget Sound area.
