DALLAS – Grocery Connect, a new initiative from Bonton Farms offering online grocery ordering and pickup without leaving the neighborhood, has officially launched. Powered by Kroger Delivery, Grocery Connect will address grocery access in food desert communities of South Dallas by offering fee-free delivery of groceries ordered online for pickup at designated, staffed centers in the community. The first Grocery Connect ordering and pickup point in the community will be South Dallas Fair Park Innercity Community Development Corporation (ICDC).
Customers who placed an online order through Grocery Connect the previous week will arrive at ICDC to pick up their orders of fresh, affordable groceries during the designated weekly pickup window every Tuesday between 3:00 – 7:00 p.m. A kickoff event, which was held onTuesday, January 30 at 3:00 p.m. at ICDC was open to the community and will featured games, snacks, demonstrations, and live order pickups.
“For decades, initiatives have tried to address grocery access in food desert communities with limited success,” said Gabe Madison, president, Bonton Farms. “Grocery Connect is a nontraditional approach to solving this issue. It places these communities at the forefront of where significant portions of retail grocery shopping is headed and is a model for the eradication of urban food deserts in the U.S.”
“Expanding food access is core to our mission at Kroger Delivery, bringing more fresh food to more people,” said Ben Hamilton, vice president of ecommerce supply chain and logistics, Kroger Fulfillment. “Through this collaboration, we are able to deepen those efforts and serve more residents in the South Dallas neighborhood of North Texas.”
Through Kroger’s leading edge fulfillment center located in Southern Dallas, Grocery Connect customers will receive the same pricing as in-store shoppers with access to over 33,000 products, all at no additional costs – no delivery fees, service charges or tips – thereby bringing modern grocery shopping into these communities.
“Kroger’s delivery footprint allows us to reach more areas without the time and multi-million-dollar expense of building and maintaining a brick-and-mortar grocery store,” said Keith Shoemaker, president, Kroger’s Dallas Division. “Our refrigerated fleet will ensure that the groceries arrive fresh and the ice cream will remain frozen, all with no delivery fees for Grocery Connect shoppers.”
There are plans for three Grocery Connect centers, where the community can access computers and staff for training and support on ordering, and to make sure customers get what they ordered and are satisfied at pickup. The first center is now open at 4907 Spring Ave in Dallas at the ICDC building. The second center is set to open in the Spring at the Dallas Bethlehem Center and the third center at Bonton Farms will open in the Fall.
Grocery Connect staff be able to help visitors determine if they are qualified for SNAP benefits and assist with enrollment in that program. These centers will be open when it works for the community including some weekend and evening hours, especially if a customer is unable to collect their grocery order during the pickup window.
“Grocery Connect is a long-term solution that will bring equity to the community of South Dallas in the form of access to fresh and nutritious food, “said Billy Lane, executive director, ICDC.
“The addition of Grocery Connect to District 7, specifically South Dallas, is going to address the immediate needs of so many residents,” said Council member Adam Bazaldua. “Having the first Grocery Connect pickup point in Fair Park Innercity Community Development Corporation (IDIC) is going to ensure this service is accessible to the residents of District 7. It’s even in the backyard of some of our residents! Food deserts are an active problem we acknowledge and are working to face, and this project is an enormous step in the correct direction. I cannot thank Bonton Farms and Kroger enough for investing in this community and working to provide South Dallas with Fresh, affordable, accessible access to groceries.”
About Grocery Connect
With Grocery Connect, the community of South Dallas can say goodbye to long trips to the grocery store and hello to fresh food, less stress, better health, and more time. Through our partnership with Kroger and our network of community service centers, we’re bringing grocery shopping into traditionally underserved urban communities saving families both time and money. Shopping is simple: you order online and at preset community times and locations, a truck delivers your order for pickup at the service center with NO delivery fee. Visit www.groceryconnect.org to learn more.
About Bonton Farms
Since emancipation, racial injustice and systemic oppression have prevented opportunities in the southern Dallas neighborhood of Bonton that were a given elsewhere. Historically, residents have experienced higher rates of diabetes, stroke and cancer and significantly higher rates of poverty. They have been denied access to the seven human essentials that are necessary to survive and thrive: health and wellness, economic stability, safe and affordable housing, transportation, a sense of belonging, education and access to fair credit.
Bonton Farms has grown from a garden in a small lot to two fully functioning farms, a Farmer’s Market, a Café, Coffee House, and a transformational organization addressing the barriers that residents are up against in accessing all seven human essentials. Working alongside Bonton residents to transform the community, the people of Bonton Farms support their neighbors in redefining the norm. Today, healing is coming from within. www.bontonfarms.org
About Kroger
At Kroger, a company of The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), we are Fresh for Everyone™ and dedicated to our Purpose: To Feed the Human Spirit®. We are 13,000 associates in 109 stores who serve customers daily through a seamless shopping experience throughout North Texas to West Louisiana. We are committed to creating #ZeroHungerZeroWaste communities by 2025. To learn more about us, visit our newsroom and investor relations site.
About ICDC
Founded in 1986, South Dallas Fair Park Innercity Community Development Corporation, known as ICDC is a 501(c) (3) community-based development corporation serving the needs of the South Dallas/Fair Park neighborhoods. Our programs focus on homeownership and economic development under the umbrella of holistic community development. www.icdc.biz
