EBT SNAP Payments Now Accepted for Schnucks Delivers
Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) SNAP participants can now use their benefits on Schnucks Delivers and Curbside Pickup orders through the retailer’s partnership with Instacart.
The launch follows the United States Department of Agriculture’s April extension of EBT benefits through the summer for families with children facing financial hardships, as well as the USDA Food and Nutrition Services’ most recent approval allowing Schnucks and Instacart to launch their SNAP online partnership.
Bob Hardester, Schnucks chief information and supply chain officer, said that lack of transportation often serves as a barrier to the grocery store, and that this new option provides many Schnucks customers a way to meet their families’ nutritional needs without compromising quality. “One of our community pillars at Schnucks is to help the communities that we serve fight food insecurity and hunger,” said Hardester. “Extending EBT SNAP eligibility to Schnucks Delivers and Curbside Pickup orders increases accessibility to nutritious food and sustenance to those most in need in the areas we serve.”
EBT SNAP participants will be able to shop online from Schnucks’ 110 locations in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. To help subsidize costs for these participants, Instacart will waive delivery or pickup fees through Sept. 16 on the first three EBT SNAP orders for each customer with a valid EBT card associated with an Instacart account. Curbside Pickup remains free on orders of $35 or more.
“Providing people access to the food they love is at the core of Instacart’s mission. We’re proud to partner with Schnucks to provide more families with a convenient and accessible way to get their fresh food and pantry staples,” said David Healy, retail partnerships at San Francisco-based Instacart. “Expanding EBT SNAP to reach same-day online grocery delivery and pickup is important to help Americans access the food they need, and we look forward to introducing this payment integration across four states with Schnucks.”
Once an EBT SNAP participant has created a profile on the Instacart website or mobile app, they can enter their EBT food card information as a form of payment. Customers will need a secondary form of payment for nonfood items such as taxes, tips and fees, per federal SNAP guidelines. Once items are added to their cart, customers will be able to select how much of their benefits they would like to allocate to their Schnucks order.
Meanwhile, as the popularity of curbside pickup continues to grow among grocery customers, Schnucks is planning to expand the offering to 12 additional locations in Missouri, Illinois and Indiana this fall. This latest expansion with partner Instacart will bring the total number of Schnucks stores offering curbside pickup to 82.
St. Louis-based Schnuck Markets Inc. operates more than 100 stores in four states and employs more than 13,000 associates. The company is No. 64 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2021 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.
