Last year changed the way consumers shopped, prepared, and consumed food. Consumers are taking fewer 73% trips to the grocery store and instead are shopping more at food subscription services and online grocery stores, with 80% of U.S. consumers having shopped online for groceries since COVID-19 outbreak. Experts predict these trends are going to continue to grow into 2021. Online grocery service, Hungryroot, has leaned into this change in consumer behavior with their online grocery delivery service model. Their unique offerings attracted new consumers and increased their repeat loyalists allowing them to achieve a $100 million net revenue run-rate for the first time in 2020.
“While some of this growth stems from the stay-at-home orders this year, it’s primarily the result of our team’s hard work expanding our selection of groceries and making the Hungryroot experience as easy as possible for our customers. In 2020, we nearly tripled the number of products we offer, and our customers can now access over three thousand top-rated, chef-designed recipes to use with their groceries. We also adjusted the pricing of our service, and as a result, have become our customers’ primary source for groceries. These changes have fueled our growth and will continue to do so in 2021 and beyond,” said Ben McKean, CEO of Hungryroot.
Meal prepped with Hungryroot’s grocery delivery. MICHAEL MARQUAND
A big part of their success is the customization they offer their customers. Customers share their dietary restrictions, family size, grocery needs, and food preferences, and the Hungryroot algorithm will curate a selection of modern, healthy foods from their line of branded products as well as emerging food brands. Additionally, Hungryroot offers 3,000+ top-rated, 10-minute recipes and customized meal plans organized via a customers’ grocery list into breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and sweets to help them plan their week. All Hungryroot items are free of partially hydrogenated oils, artificial sweeteners, high-fructose corn syrup, artificial colors and artificial preservatives. “We believe that health is personal. Lots of companies believe in telling you how you should eat. We don’t. Instead, we find the most nutritious options out there and help you eat what works best for you. For some people that means eating more Brussel sprouts, and for others that means trying plant-based cookie dough. When a customer signs up, we create a grocery plan tailored to their needs based on family size, eating habits, dietary needs, personal goals, and more. For example, does the customer want more snacks than sweets? Do they want recipes in every delivery, or just groceries on their own? We offer the simplest way to get groceries customers will love, driven by a smart algorithm that constantly adapts to their needs,” shared McKean.
Approximately 70% of Hungryroot’s customer base is female particularly moms who are preparing several meals a day for their families as schools still operate online. “While our primary buyer skews female, we’re seeing that our service continues to attract more and more male customers as we roll out a larger breadth of product offerings. As a one-stop grocer, we’re always working to update our overall shopping experience, both digitally and through our recipes, to meet the demands of our current and potential customers. One of our biggest priorities in 2021 is to continue expanding our grocery selection since we’ve seen that the wider our product breadth (i.e. more options for grocery staples like milk, bread, eggs, etc.), the better we’re able to support our customers. We’ll also continue optimizing our algorithm to better ensure we’re putting the right groceries for the right customers in every delivery, while continuing to eliminate all the tedious aspects of grocery shopping,” added McKean.
