Peapod partners with Chicagoland meat purveyor

Online grocer Peapod will be the grocery retail launching pad for Meats by Linz, a leading Chicagoland steak provider and purveyor of fine meats.

The Ahold Delhaize USA subsidiary said its customers in Chicago will have access to the Virtual Butcher Shop, which the company called the first of its kind available to online grocery shoppers. The online shop will feature a variety of items connecting the consumer with the product, including an “Ask the Butcher” Q&A section and the Dry Aged Steak Room, where shoppers can view the aging process in real time.

Meats by Linz will offer an array of cuts and aging styles to help Peapod shoppers find exactly what they want, the companies said.

In addition, Peapod is slated to launch the “Gourmet Butcher Shop” in time for the holiday season. The shop will enable shoppers to custom-order holiday meals, including the ability to specify meat cuts and sizes to meet the needs of their celebrations.

“Peapod is continuously looking to add new sources of high-quality products to our lineup, and that is what initially brought us to Meats by Linz,” Spencer Baird, senior vice president of merchandising for Peapod, said in a statement. “As another Chicago-based company, we saw the immense potential not only to distribute their products, but also collaborate in a full partnership that gives the Peapod customer a truly unique experience delivered right to their door.”

Peapod noted that it’s the only direct-to-consumer distribution channel for Calumet City, Ill.-based Meats by Linz.

Operated by the third generation of the Linz family, Meats by Linz is an in-demand supplier of meat in the Midwest and serves high-end steakhouses across the country, such as Maple and Ash Restaurant, Ditka’s Restaurant Chicago and Michael Jordan’s Steak House, among others.

“Consumers hear a lot about dry-aged steak, but not a lot of shoppers actually know what that means,” explained Fred Linz, owner of Meats by Linz. “This partnership with Peapod gives us a way to not only share our amazing products with consumers, but also provide an educational component that will help them purchase items best-suited for any occasion.”

Peapod’s online grocery service, which delivers to homes and businesses and has over 200 pickup sites, is available in 24 metropolitan markets in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia.