Dive Brief:

• Instacart and Sprouts Farmers Market announced Tuesday a new partnership to bring Instacart’s order management system FoodStorm across more than 400 of the grocer’s locations.
• Sprouts is accepting pre-orders for the holiday season through its website, app and in-store with FoodStorm’s system.
• The partnership comes as the specialty grocer aims to modernize its inventory management ahead of the holiday season. 

Dive Insight:

The FoodStorm partnership comes at a time when Sprouts — a grocer known for its holiday catering options — is looking to make it easier for customers and employees to process orders for turkeys, meats, fully prepared meals, party platters and other items, according to the announcement.

With FoodStorm, Sprouts is offering customers a “Turkey Tracker” that lets them see the status of their order.

“Sprouts is committed to providing a seamless customer experience across all facets of our business, and we’re thrilled to partner with our friends at Instacart to bring Foodstorm to Sprouts. This will give our customers a new and convenient way to order better-for-you meals this holiday season,” Sprouts President and Chief Operating Officer Nick Konat said in the announcement. 

The Sprouts’ tie-up marks the latest partnership for Instacart’s catering and prepared foods ordering system and comes at a time when grocers have been seeking ways to boost their foodservice offerings to compete with meal options from restaurants and convenience stores. 

“As the holiday season approaches, grocers brace for a surge in demand for prepared food that can increase their order volumes by up to 20 times the usual amount,” FoodStorm General Manager Rob Hill said in the announcement.

Instacart bought FoodStorm in 2021 and then fully integrated it into its Instacart app last summer.

In recent months, Instacart simplified the process of selling, managing and fulfilling personalized made-to-order items through the order management system. Most recently, changes to the user interface aim to make FoodStorm easier to use ahead of the holidays.