News

Instacart, Whole Foods breaking up delivery partnership

December 14, 2018

The new year will bring about a breakup between delivery provider, Instacart, and Whole Foods, as the supermarket chain, now owned by Amazon, is severing its delivery services partnership.

The news, according to a Reuters report posted at CNBC, will involve transferring three quarters of Instacart's nearly 1,500 in-store part-time shoppers, now delivering from 76 Whole Foods stores, to other retailers come Feb. 2019.

A blog post by Instacart founder and CEO Apoorva Mehta stated there will be a layoff of 243 employees.

The news isn't a big surprise given Amazon's $13.7 billion dollar acquisition of Whole Foods last year and its continued strategy to innovate on delivery options.

"Amazon's intent from day one when it first announced its desire to acquire Whole Foods was to integrate Whole Foods with its own grocery delivery efforts such as Amazon Fresh and Prime Now," Tom Forte, an analyst with D.A. Davidson, told Reuters.