Peapod Delivering Local Seasonal Produce

Online grocer Peapod has launched the Peapod Local Farm Box program to deliver local seasonal produce directly to shoppers' doors. During the summer, the company's customers in New York City; New Jersey; eastern Massachusetts; Rhode Island; Pennsylvania; Maryland; Washington, D.C.; Virginia; Illinois; Indiana; and Wisconsin can add a box of produce from local farms to their virtual grocery carts. Developed with Evanston, Ill.-based FarmLogix, a company linking local farmers to businesses, the program costs $34.99 a box.

Each box contains five unique produce items from area farms, weighing about 10 to 14 pounds. Items will vary weekly, according to the farmers' harvests. Peapod customers can view what’s included in a week's box, in addition to recipes and information about the source farmers, when they place their orders.

"We know our customers love supporting local farms and enjoying the best fresh produce in season," noted Peg Merzbacher, VP of regional marketing for Skokie, Ill.-based Peapod, an Ahold USA company serving 24 U.S. markets. "It's easy to add the Farm Box to your grocery order and have it delivered along with your favorite national and store brands."

The e-grocer also recently rolled out a refreshed mobile application to simplify shopping; features include Order Genius, an intuitive technology that can predict a shopper's order based on purchases made on Peapod.com and at brick-and-mortar Stop & Shop and Giant locations.