Mercato Reminds Indies’ Shoppers That ‘Every Meal Counts’

Mercato, an e-commerce platform created for independent grocers and specialty food stores, has rolled out Every Meal Counts, a campaign designed to fight childhood hunger by providing food assistance to families across the United States. The company describes the effort as “a seamless and passive way for Mercato shoppers to help the food insecure,” with Mercato making a donation each time an order is placed on the platform.

“Today, more than 40 million Americans face food insecurity — and it’s estimated that more than a quarter of those impacted are children,” noted Bobby Brannigan, founder and CEO of San Diego-based Mercato and the son of a Brooklyn, N.Y., grocer. “We’ve created Every Meal Counts to fight hunger by making sure that every order placed on Mercato results in a donation to an accredited food bank. We work with more than 1,000 independent grocers across the United States. Every Meal Counts allows all of us in the Mercato ecosystem, the grocers and the individual shoppers, to support our local communities.”

Mercato is raising awareness of the campaign via digital advertising, short-form video content and in-store point-of-sale materials, as well as sending teams of ambassadors to several independent grocers. The in-store tour will make stops at Grace’s Marketplace, in New York City; the Original Farmers Market, in Los Angeles; Dill Pickle Food Co-op, in Chicago; Reading Terminal Market, in Philadelphia; Coastal Seafood, in Minneapolis; among others. Mercato ambassadors will also visit Eataly locations in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.

With an initial goal of feeding 1 million kids, Every Meal Counts kicked off Nov. 1 in partnership with New York-based City Harvest, which helps feed more than 1.5 million food-insecure families. Over the coming weeks, Mercato will continue to team with other accredited food banks and local charities to help feed hungry children across the country.

“Not only does the program help support our work of feeding those in need, it raises awareness among Mercato’s user base and allows them to help in an easy, everyday way,” said Tessa Lechleider, business partnerships assistant at City Harvest. 

Added Brannigan: “While they may not know it, Mercato users from Boston to San Diego will be fighting childhood hunger each time they order food for delivery. At the same time, they’re helping support the independent and local grocers that make our communities so special. It’s all part and parcel of Mercato’s mission.”