Online Grocer Farmstead Now Delivering in the Windy City

Online grocer Farmstead, based in Burlingame, Calif., is now delivering groceries in the Windy City. Chicago is the company’s fifth market, which also includes the San Francisco Bay Area, Miami, Fla., and Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham, N.C.

The company’s new 30,000-square-foot warehouse is located in Franklin Park. Farmstead opened its waitlist for grocery delivery on Jan. 14 and said the list filled within days.

“Farmstead is different from any other grocery delivery option in Chicago,” said Pradeep Elankumaran, co-founder and CEO of Farmstead, in a statement. “With Farmstead, customers get the best quality, local produce; great local Chicago brands and national brand staples all in one place, with no markups or fees. And we can deliver quickly in a broad radius, not just downtown. We’re excited to show Chicago that there’s a better way to get groceries online.”

The company said that with delivery in as little as one hour, customers can choose from a selection of fresh produce, national brands such as Kraft, and local Chicago brands such as Oberweis Dairy, Intelligentsia Coffee, Gino’s East Pizza, Vienna Beef and Hometown Bagel Chips.

Farmstead said in a statement that it “stands out from other offerings by leveraging proprietary AI technology and a dark store model—delivery-centric warehouses that generally serve a 50-mile radius—to maximize efficiency and reduce costs.”

Customers can choose a same-day delivery slot (a two- to four-hour guaranteed delivery window) for one-off, everyday ordering, or sign up for a free once-a-week delivery. The company also said all Farmstead deliveries are batched together with other orders in the same neighborhood, to reduce carbon emissions.

The company said it plans to expand nationwide to a primarily suburban, mid-market audience. Last April, Farmstead announced a partnership with DoorDash.