What’s In This Episode
- The shared experience of food
- Pivoting to online grocers and meal kits
- Delivery services’ trifecta for success
- Why exceptional digital experiences matter
- Environmental impacts
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Featuring (In Order of Appearance)
Recipe for Success: Food, Purpose & Technology
Food is a universal, shared experience. Yet like work, school and other activities of daily life, the pandemic radically changed consumer buying behaviors and eating habits.
For many, more meal preparation at home comes with the anxiety of visiting traditional grocery stores. For others, it revealed new experiences and healthier options—only available online.
That’s been good news for online grocers, such as Good Eggs and The Purple Carrot. In the face of the global pandemic, great food, local suppliers and technology are proving a winning combination.
Nearly half of shoppers are buying more or started buying groceries online due to COVID-19.
A New Model: Local Sourcing and Delivery
San Francisco-area organic grocery delivery company Good Eggs believes good food is the most powerful force for change.
That’s why the company spent nearly a decade simplifying a complex supply chain with modern technology. This purpose-plus-tech combination powers its warehouse, fulfillment center, buying processes and website. Today, it locally sources only the freshest products from thousands of growers within about a 300-mile radius. And it offers one of the best customer experiences online.
“Shopping experience matters, both pre-COVID and post-COVID. And it should be enjoyable,” says Bentley Hall, Good Eggs’ CEO. He doesn’t believe that age of traditional retail is over, but instead believes, “poor retail experiences will die.”
Understanding that some consumers are practical shoppers and others are true foodies, Good Eggs takes pride in making its shopping experience efficient, relaxing and enjoyable.
Food for Thought
Purple Carrot founder and CEO Andy Levitt sees online options as a powerful way to provide people with choice—especially in this time of uncertainty.
“When I think about the joy of cooking—and largely cooking plant-based foods—in a world where so much feels out of control, there is something really nice about controlling what you eat and having a level of control as you cook food for yourself, your family and those people you love.”
At its heart, Levitt describes his plant-based meal kit business as an e-commerce firm with an outstanding development team. The company is “constantly tweaking, evaluating and improving the site and building out new features, including doing testing to improve the flow.”
Sustainability Concerns
As organic and plant-based foods become keys to healthy lifestyles, these meal companies also recognize the need to reduce the environmental impact of field-to-table delivery. They provide recycling and upcycling tips, while reminding consumers about the benefits of plant-based choices.
“If you are going to use a meal kit,” says Levitt, advocating for Purple Carrot’s services, choosing a “plant-based diet is far more gentle on the environment than meals requiring a lot of meat or dairy.”
Cooking Up Joy
Food is maybe the only universal thing that really has the power to bring everyone together. No matter what culture, everywhere around the world, people eat together.
—Food Network star Guy Fieri
As consumer food shopping behavior continues to change, will more people make healthy and environmentally friendly choices? If yes, Good Eggs and Purple Carrot are just a click away.
After all, a great meal shared with family and friends can lead to joy and good health. And thanks to innovative pop culture tech, it also connects us to a community, grounds us in our planet and supports local economies.