5 New Beverage-Delivery Endeavors
By Steve Holtz on Aug. 23, 2017CHICAGO -- New efforts are heating up the race to bring beverages directly to consumers. From packaging changes to partnerships and start-up companies, here are five developments that aim to cut out that stop at the brick-and-mortar store ...
Coca-Cola Co.
Coca-Cola Co., Atlanta, has partnered with online meal kit company Chef’d to provide drinks to complement the food offered in the meal kits.
"Beverage pairings aren’t just for wine anymore," says the Chef'd website. "Your favorite sodas, teas, and sparkling water beverages can add depth and bring out the best flavors in your meal. We’ve partnered with Coca-Cola, Dasani, and Gold Peak to create refreshing flavor inspirations that will take your meal from excellent to outstanding! These recipes were specifically created to give you a complete flavor experience."
Chef'd allows consumers to shop for meals online, order delivery and prepare the meals themselves in their home kitchen.
PepsiCo
Meanwhile, PepsiCo, Purchase, N.Y., is investing in making changes to its snacks and beverage businesses to capitalize on the growth of e-commerce, according to a Food Business News report.
“On beverages, I think there are two issues," chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi said during a company earnings call in July. "One is the cold delivery of the beverages if consumers so desire ice-cold beverages delivered to them, which I find it hard to believe, but you can never tell. And then how do we make sure that we address this whole delivery of water because beverages are largely water.
"So we are looking at meaningful innovation, both in snacks and beverages, in order to address the exploding growth of e-commerce.”
Nooyi said she can envision a day when shopping online function much like today's in-store retail experience.
“I think the whole e-commerce area is going to be impulse [driven, just] as you see it in a brick-and-mortar store, which then translates to e-commerce and it becomes part of a replenishment cycle,” she said. “We've seen so many virtual reality tools right now. You can actually simulate grocery stores or whatever version of a grocery store you want on-line. And you can easily navigate the aisles, and just with a click, shop for whatever you want. So, I think in an interesting way, there's infinite possibilities to create impulse all through technology on-line.”
Vroom Delivery
VroomDelivery.com launched its first store in the Chicago in July with Burnham Liquors, bringing on-demand delivery of alcohol and other products to the Loop and surrounding area.
Unlike other home delivery services, Vroom Delivery is the only platform on the market focused on smaller, locally owned convenience stores and retailers, according to the company. "We give them a way to compete with larger chains," said President John Nelson, "with a web presence, tools to understand and capture customer demand, and marketing support.
"Our platform helps local businesses largely limited, up until this point, to foot traffic. We're able to help independent operators grow and build more lasting relationships with customers while offering convenient on-demand delivery."
Through VroomDelivery.com's website and an app, customers can choose from hundreds of products with delivery in under an hour.
Meijer
Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Meijer and its home-delivery partner Shipt on July 11 added beer, wine and spirits to the list of grocery products customers can have delivered from local stores as part of its store-to-door service.
Shipt members can now add items from the retailer’s assortment of beers, wines and spirits as part of more than 55,000 grocery items available at local Meijer stores. Meijer launched the membership-based, home delivery service in the Detroit area last year and has continued to expand the service throughout Michigan, including Grand Rapids, Ann Arbor, Traverse City and West Lakeshore communities.
Buffalo Wild Wings
Restaurant chain Buffalo Wild Wings is piloting a beer-delivery program, with restaurants in Ohio and Wisconsin among the first to offer the service, President and CEO Sally Smith announced during an earnings call in July.
The Minneapolis-based chain offers food delivery from 230 of its 1,200 restaurants. "In the second quarter, takeout and delivery was 17.6% of our company-owned restaurant revenues," Smith said.