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MARKET PROFILE
San Francisco Dives Into Delivery Mode
In this food-loving city steeped in global fla- vors, the future is in service. and the future arrived yesterday.
CBy E. Shaunn Alderman
ulinary explorers seeking global flavors and produce-centric meals continue to flourish in San Francisco. That’s not exactly hot news for the fourth most-populated city in California
where the D-word traditionally has been diver- sity. Diversity in cultures and food traditions has been the factor instrumental in shaping restaurant food concepts for quite a while. But now, the add-on D-word seems to be delivery.
Can it be delivered? Numerous Bay Area retailers and restaurants hearing this incessant question have been pressured to adapt their business plans to accommodate the request. Beyond AmazonFresh and Prime Now, both at Whole Foods, many retailers — including Lunardi’s Food Markets, Draeger’s Market and Mollie Stone’s Markets — use Instacart delivery service.
Tapped by some Lucky’s stores, Postmates is another company offering “food, drinks and groceries for delivery or pickup.”Trader Joes does not deliver, but San Francisco resi- dents can opt to use Envoy, a concierge-style service for shopping and delivery. For the past few years delivery has been trending across the country. Bay Area residents say there’s no doubt severe traffic influences consumer
Citrus display at Growers Produce Inc.
54 / APRIL 2019 / PRODUCE BUSINESS
GoodEggs, an online grocery sales and delivery service is based at The SF Market.
choices to have groceries and food delivered — that, and the popularity of staying home to watch Netflix.
With a population around 884,363, hilly San Francisco in Northern California is geographically unique. The city is the top part of a peninsula located between the Pacific Ocean and the San Francisco Bay. The greater Bay Area is comprised of nine counties, more than 100 cities and has a population of more than seven million people. Along with the
beauty, all of that water means there are eight bridges (and tolls) for residents, tourists, and produce delivery trucks bringing in produce from nearby farms.
Seeking to know where food comes from and eating local can be considered charac- teristic of Bay Area residents. Savvy palates combined with acknowledgement of farming practices and interest about farm locations are not atypical in this region. In February, when growers were harvesting Brussels sprouts
SAN FRANCISCO