EXCLUSIVE: Earth Fare Grows Partnership With Flashfood
Earth Fare is taking its relationship with Flashfood out of the pilot phase and rolling out the app-based service at three additional stores. The grocer has been testing Flashfood at its Greenville, S.C., location since August, and is now expanding the partnership to stores in North Canton, Ohio; Rock Hill, S.C.; and Concord, N.C.
Flashfood, which allows users to purchase grocery staples nearing their best-by date at a greatly reduced price, launched its Flashfood for Independents functionality last summer with the help of Earth Fare and others. Nicholas Bertram, CEO of Flashfood, told Progressive Grocer that Earth Fare has a lot of credibility when it comes to fresh, healthy and sustainable food, and that the grocer has been a great partner and steward of Flashfood’s mission.
“Earth Fare is unique because it was the first independent grocer that we launched with,” Bertram explained. “There’s a lot more behind the scenes than there would be on a typical enterprise expansion because they’ve been partners with us on making sure that the tech integration and the processes actually work. They’ve made us better.”
In less than six months, Flashfood has helped Earth Fare’s Greenville location save shoppers more than $17,000 on groceries while also diverting more than 9,000 pounds of food from landfills. Laurie Aker, Earth Fare’s director of marketing, told Progressive Grocer that the company has also seen an influx of new customers looking for deals while also remaining environmentally conscious consumers.
“We're committed to not only our shoppers and their health, but our planet's health as well,” Aker said. “Partnering with Flashfood offers us an innovative way to get affordable, quality food to our shoppers in a way that is super convenient for them. Our partnership with Flashfood is just one way we're able to keep grocery costs down for folks while not compromising on the quality of the food.”
In addition to offering mixed produce boxes for $5, Earth Fare has also taken the unique step of including hot bar items on the Flashfood app, giving customers a quick, healthy meal option at a steeply discounted price.
As for the future, Aker said Earth Fare plans to roll out Flashfood functionality to additional stores over time.
Asheville, N.C.-based Earth Fare operates 18 stores in seven Midwest and Southeast states. Led by its pioneering Boot List, Earth Fare has developed a Food Philosophy that bans all artificial ingredients, trans fats, high-fructose corn syrup, and added hormones and antibiotics.
By partnering with retailers across North America, Flashfood offers shoppers nutritious staples at affordable prices, and reduces the amount of food going to landfills. The company currently partners with more than 2,000 stores across North America.
