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The Spoon

Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

Future of Grocery

DoorDash Enters Ultra-Fast Grocery Market, Hires Couriers in Break From Gig Worker Model

Today DoorDash announced it is entering the hyper-competitive ultra-quick grocery delivery market with the launch of a new DashMart location in New York City. According to the announcement sent to The Spoon, the new location will stock up to 2000 items and complete deliveries within 10-15 minutes of a customer’s order.

The new initiative follows the launch of DashMart, DoorDash’s own branded dark grocery network, in 2020. The expansion into hyper-fast is a logical next move, especially for a company with as robust a nationwide logistics and delivery network as DoorDash.

DoorDash’s new effort also represents a significant departure from the company’s traditional gig worker model. Instead of using freelancers to deliver groceries for its new effort, DoorDash will hire its own couriers for the first time. The company plans to hire sixty workers to staff the effort, each getting paid $15/hour plus benefits and tips to start. The new couriers will work for a new DoorDash subsidiary named DashCorp.

The move to hire a courier workforce is, in part, due to pressure from states like New York, which have begun to pass legislation placing greater protection on gig workers. The move also makes sense in that the ultra-fast grocery model requires a ready stable of couriers to deliver goods to consumers as they come in.

“Millions of people across the country turn to platforms like DoorDash to earn supplemental income when, where, and how they choose, providing them with unique flexibility and choice that is so valuable,” said company president Christopher Payne. “We’re proud to be a leader in providing economic opportunities that fit the lives of so many people. And now, we’re excited about the new employment opportunity that DashCorps offers for a different type of work.”

DoorDash’s latest moves follow discussions by the delivery giant to invest in Berlin-based fast-grocery pioneer Gorillas. The talks, which would have given DoorDash a buy option on the Berlin-based company, eventually fell apart, and it’s unclear how much of DoorDash’s newly launched fast-grocery initiative was a direct result of the fizzling effort between the two companies. Whatever their intention, it’s clear now with the launch of its first fast-grocery outpost and the launch of DashCorp that DoorDash is building infrastructure for roll-your-own strategy in this nascent but fast-growing market.

For Gorillas, JOKR, Gopuff, and others in this new space, DoorDash will undoubtedly represent a potentially significant new competitor. The delivery company commands a 55% market share in the US food delivery market and a year ago had 20 million monthly active users. While JOKR, Gopuff, and others have had no problem raising eye-popping amounts of venture funding, these companies have to invest much of their venture funds into user acquisition and logistics, areas which already have been well-developed by the more mature DoorDash.

Starbucks and Amazon Combine Forces to Create a Cashierless Coffee Shop

Wonder Twin powers, activate: Form of a cashierless coffee shop.

That’s right, today two Seattle-based giants, Starbucks and Amazon, announced they’ve combined their formidable superpowers to create a cashierless coffee shop. The new shop, called Starbucks Pickup with Amazon Go, debuts today in New York City.

The new Pickup store uses Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology, a system that features a variety of cutting-edge tech like computer vision and IoT sensors, as well as Amazon’s bio-authentication hand-scanning technology, Amazon One.

Here’s how it works: Customers order through the Starbucks app and can check order status on a digital screen. When it’s ready, coffee is picked up directly from the barista. The Pickup store also includes a mini-Go store stocked with snack and lunch items, as well as a lounge area. Access to both the store and the lounge is enabled through a one-time code from the Amazon Go app, a credit card swipe, or checking in via Amazon One’s hand-ID system. Once authenticated, customers can drop items from the store into their cart and will be charged once they leave.

The lounge is slightly different from the usual Starbucks store format in that it features individual work cubbies alongside the standard tables and chairs. Each cubby is equipped with USB ports and power outlets.

According to a company spokesperson, the two companies plan to open two additional Pickups over the next year, with the second one slated to open in the New York Times building. Beyond that, the company isn’t saying, but given Starbucks’ focus on upgrading their formats to enable quicker service and less overall contact post-pandemic, my guess is that if the initial stores work well, the Pickup format will become a go-to for Starbucks moving forward.

You can see the store in the B-roll provided by Starbucks below:

Starbucks Pickup Store, Featuring Amazon Just Walk Out Technology

Researchers Have Developed a Chameleon-Inspired Solution to Keep Fish Fresh

Red light, green light. Your first thought may be Squid Game, but these two colors are part of new food technology used for real squid.

Researchers invented a material that changes color to measure how fresh seafood is, inspired by (you guessed it) chameleons. It can save consumers from eating spoiled fish and can keep food waste out of landfills.

Why does your fish smell so fishy?

You probably are familiar with fish that smells… well, too fishy. This unpleasant odor comes from volatile gases in seafood, such as dimethylamine or ammonia. As the temperature of fish rises, its acidity changes, and ammonia is released.

Your salmon or shrimp has definitely spoiled if you can smell this gas — but ammonia can increase to dangerous levels before your nose can detect it. “Seafood easily spoils due to microbial growth that produces volatile amine gases,” said researcher Tao Chen in an interview.

A key part of seafood production is the ability to detect these volatile gases. Current standards take about four hours to find ammonia or dimethylamine in just one sample of fish.

Imagine if the commercial fishing industry had to set aside four hours for every piece of fish in their warehouse. The process would take days, and all the food would be at risk for spoiling. In reality, most fish inspections are done visually and are highly prone to error.

Here is where a team of food scientists and chemists enters the picture. New technology from Chen and his team at the Key Laboratory of Marine Materials detects when seafood has spoiled.

Chameleon skin inspired this material.

The skin of a chameleon can shift its hue to blend into different environments in just a few seconds. In a similar show of colors, the hydrogel can change its fluorescence from red to blue to green in a few minutes. These three colors allow scientists to visualize changes in response to stimuli.

The hydrogel changes color as heat and ammonia levels rise. The technology is easy to use, as the hydrogel can be placed directly into any package to check if fish or shellfish are safe to eat. Though customers should not eat the gel, it will not affect the product’s taste.

The soft material is unique in its ability to change colors. Both chemists and material engineers have struggled to design a synthetic fabric that could change colors. Until this study, scientists have been unable to model the structure of panther chameleon skin in a lab.

“Is it possible to mimic this unique structure into artificial color-changing materials? As described in our paper, the answer is yes,” Chen said.

“Up to now, the responsive color-changing capacity of synthetic materials was still far inferior to that of the natural chameleon skin,” researcher Patrick Théato said in an interview. Théato collaborated with the team in China for this bio-inspired project.

Science: Taste the rainbow.

The team discovered that the secret was in the separation. Instead of placing all fluorescent materials onto one sheet, each color has its own layer.

As seen in the diagram below, at the core of the hydrogel is a red layer that stays true to its hue. A middle blue layer measures the temperature of the seafood, and an outer green layer tests acidity and ammonia levels.

The hydrogel changes color in the presence of ammonia (NH3) or heat. It shifts to a green hue when ammonia is present or becomes more purple as the temperature rises. At either end of the spectrum, the fish in question is unsafe to eat.

The blue hydrogel layer changes color from purplish red to blue when the temperature rises. At 20º Celsius, the material appears to be purple or red, and when the heat rises to 50º Celsius, the hydrogel turns blue. The whole hydrogel turns green when ammonia is present and has no color change if ammonia is not present in the sample.

Not only do the different layers mimic the skin of a chameleon, but they also let scientists test the environmental variables on their own. Existing methods combine heat and ammonia into one reading and are less accurate. For example, current technologies would likely miss a slight change in acidity if the temperature stayed static.

Almost one-third of food in China is wasted.

Chen spoke to his personal motivation to create seafood-focused technology. His team hails from Ningbo, a coastal metropolis in China. “Many people in this city love seafood very much,” Chen said.

However, a significant amount of this catch ends up in landfills. A new study shows that 27% of all food in China is wasted per year. To put that number in perspective, food waste emissions in China are equal to total emissions in the United Kingdom.

How is the country keeping food out of the garbage? Well, President Xi Jinping declared war on food waste last year. As of April 2020, it is illegal to order too much food at a restaurant. ‘Mukbang‘ videos are similarly discouraged and were removed from many social media sites.

Another potential solution? The hydrogel. It can help reduce food waste on an industrial level. Commercial fisheries can use the gel for faster and more accurate readings and take immediate action if some of their seafood is beginning to spoil.

Color in cephalopods.

Théato, Chen, and many of their collaborators are working on a new project inspired by a different type of animal: Cephalopods.

These ocean dwellers – cuttlefish and squids, to name a few – are masters of camouflage. They can change their color faster than a chameleon. The researchers are creating a fluorescent hydrogel that takes notes from octopuses.

The team’s original hydrogel looked to acidity or temperature as the catalyst for color change. The new version has an electric stimulus, which is easier to control and free from any chemicals. It is currently under development for larger-scale applications.

Seems that octopuses are teaching us, after all.

Buyk Launches 15 Minute Grocery Delivery in NYC

Buyk, a new ultra-fast grocery delivery startup, launched operations in NYC this week.

The company announced this week that they’d launched delivery in Manhattan. Buyk, which was founded by Rodion Shishkov and Slava Bocharov – the same founding team who started Russian fast-grocery store Samokat – announced early this year that they’d raised $46 million for a US launch.

Buyk’s model utilizes hyperlocal dark stores sprinkled around different neighborhoods to ensure delivery within 15 minutes. Once customers put their order in, items are pulled within 2 minutes and then delivered by bike courier (“buykers”) to the customer within 5-10 minutes.

Buyk’s service is available today in Manhattan, and the company says they plan to expand to all NYC boroughs by the end of the year. In 2022, the company plans to expand to other major US metro areas, including cities in California, Florida, Massachusetts, and Illinois.

Buyk is just the latest fast-grocery player to launch in via New York. Just this year, we’ve seen JOKR, Gorillas, Fridge No More. Throw in goPuff’s 500 city blitz, and that’s a total of five dark store/fast grocery players to take a bite of the Big Apple in 2021.

With all the new entrants, it will be increasingly tough for these players to make a name for themselves. But a crowded market isn’t always bad; if ultra-fast grocery becomes a strategic must-have that forces bigger players like Walmart, Amazon, or even a 7-11 to look at launching their own offering, chances are one of these companies will become acquisition targets.

Whole Foods Adds Amazon’s Cashierless Tech

Well, we knew it was only a matter of time before this happened: Today, Whole Foods announced they are adding Amazon’s cashierless technology to two stores in 2022. In the announcement, the retailer says Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology will be an “option” for customers in their Washington, D.C.’s Glover Park and Sherman Oaks, California locations.

Ever since Amazon acquired the iconic retailer who helped pioneer the organic and less-processed focus grocery retail movement, Whole Foods has been cautious about adding touches of Amazon to the in-store experience. Sure, we’ve seen some Whole Food Locations install pick-up lockers, but the online retailer knows as well as anyone their presence can ruffle feathers.

This is probably why Whole Foods is starting slowly with cashierless. The grocer, which only just installed self-checkout in a limited number of locations starting in 2019, will offer the technology at only two locations and, I am sure, will emphasize to long-time customers accustomed to Whole Foods customer service that this latest iteration of the grocery store express aisle only just an option.

The cashierless checkout space has changed quite a bit ever since Amazon debuted its technology at the first Amazon Go in downtown Seattle in January of 2018. Since that time, a whole new cohort of cashierless tech startups has popped up as funding has flooded into the space. Now, with Whole Foods and others helping this technology go mainstream, I don’t see this space slowing down anytime soon.

Stop & Shop Now Accepting EBT Payments From SNAP Customers Shopping Online

The Stop & Shop grocery chain announced today that its customers on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) can use their Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card when placing orders online for pickup and delivery. The new program extends to all SNAP participants across Stop & Shop’s five state reach – Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York and New Jersey as well as delivery customers in New Hampshire.

Customers shopping online will be able to filter searches for SNAP eligible products, and apply their benefits at checkout. However, EBT cards can only be used for SNAP-eligible grocery items, and not for things such as fees, taxes or driver tips.

Adding an EBT payment option is absolutely a good thing to do. Providing greater access to grocery delivery can help alleviate food deserts in certain areas. Instacart has launched EBT payment options with ALDI, Publix, The Save Mart Companies and Price Chopper/Market 32. And last year, Amazon expanded the availability of EBT payments for groceries as well.

The outstanding issue for all of these services, however, is the payment of fees. Stop & Shop, for instance, charges $2.95 for pickup and $9.95 delivery fee for orders less than $100 (orders greater than $100 carry a $6.95 delivery fee). To really help bridge inequality and bring more equity to food availability, it would be nice if big retailers and well-funded delivery services did more to offset the costs of delivery and pickup for customers.

Let’s Unpack the Possible DoorDash + Gorillas Deal

Last week the Financial Times reported that third-party delivery giant DoorDash was in talks to buy a stake in German speedy grocery delivery startup Gorillas. While there weren’t a ton of details, such as how big any such stake would be, a follow-up story from Axios said the deal could give DoorDash the option to acquire a controlling interest in Gorillas eventually.

This could actually be a good deal for DoorDash for a number of reasons.

The sudden rise of speedy grocery delivery has been one of the big food tech stories of 2021. These fast delivery services operate a network of smaller dark stores that carry a small inventory and deliver goods to a limited radius in as short a time span as 10 minutes.

Europe in particular has been a hotbed of activity in the speedy delivery space, with startups such as Getir, Glovo and Gorillas each raising hundreds of millions of dollars a piece to expand their operations. Here in the U.S., speedy delivery is currently centered in New York City where Fridge No More, 1520, JOKR and Buyk operate, though we are seeing services like Food Rocket in San Francisco.

In terms of fundraising, Gopuff has left players on both sides of the pond in the dust, having raised $2.5 billion in just this past six months and $3.4 billion in total. Gopuff is a little different from other players in that it does not promise super fast delivery, opting instead for the comparatively sluggish half-hour delivery times (though the service delivers around the clock). But it’s enough of a comp to be included among the new wave of startups shaking up grocery delivery.

Gopuff’s now-sizable warchest has probably spurred DoorDash to get moving on speedy delivery. DoorDash has been steadily moving beyond just restaurant delivery and into the convenience store and grocery categories, and last year DoorDash launched DashMart, the company’s own chain of delivery-only c-stores. But Gopuff is aggressively expanding its operations across the U.S. and now operates 450 delivery facilities in 850 U.S. cities. Additionally, Gopuff is starting to encroach on DoorDash’s core restaurant turf with the addition of Gopuff ghost kitchens that offer hot meals like pizza, pasta and more for delivery. In other words, DoorDash can probably feel Gopuff nipping at its heels.

This brings us back to Gorillas. The Financial Times speculated that DoorDash investing in Gorillas was a play for European expansion. But there seems to be plenty of value right here in the U.S. Though it’s based in Germany, Gorillas expanded into the U.S. with its launch in New York City in May of this year. Since then, it’s been the first speedy delivery service to set up operations on both coasts as it hires out teams in San Francisco and Los Angeles. (It’s also moving into Chicago.)

An investment and potential controlling stake in Gorillas does a few things for DoorDash. First, there is probably some FOMO for DoorDash. While speedy grocery delivery services are new, they have the potential to upend the way we shop for groceries, as they turns the act of grocery shopping into something more like a utility — always there when you need it. Ten-minute delivery could become the new standard, and DoorDash doesn’t want to miss out.

But this is what makes the reported two-step investment structure of the Gorillas investment interesting. DoorDash, which is flush with its own IPO cash, can pony up some money right now and learn from Gorillas as it scales up both here and abroad. Speedy delivery startups have yet to prove if they can economically scale, and right now, they need to be in areas that are densely populated to make money. There’s still a good chance that Gorillas and the like could become the next Kozmo.com. If speedy delivery catches on, then DoorDash can swoop in, gobble up the rest of Gorillas and re-brand the entire operation as DoorDash. If Gorillas flames out, well, that’s a bummer, but DoorDash still has all of its other delivery businesses.

A smaller side story to watch with all this is whether any DoorDash investment in Gorillas would also translate into Gorillas getting Chowbotics food robots. DoorDash acquired Chowbotics earlier this year and is reportedly using the robots to create ready-to-eat salads and microwaveable meals for its DashMart stores. As I wrote last week, food robots could be a killer app for speedy grocery delivery because they create customized meals in a very small footprint.

Should DoorDash invest in Gorillas and wind up with a controlling stake, such a union would set up a bit of an existential question for DoorDash. For good and ill, DoorDash was built on the backs of contract labor. Part of the pitch from Gorillas and other speedy delivery services is that their delivery drivers are employees that receive a salary and benefits. Speedy grocers have explained to me over the past few months that having their own drivers means they can ensure faster delivery. Speedy delivery services know how many people to staff, when they are out on deliveries, when they will return, etc. DoorDash, on the other hand, has to send out delivery jobs to a network of contractors each time to find a delivery person. If speedy delivery is a game of minutes, then every second counts.

The Financial Times said that the deal is being finalized and could close at the end of this month. If the deal goes through, DoorDash could quickly become an 800 lbs gorilla in the speedy delivery space.

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DoorDash Users Can Now Add C-Store Items to Their Restaurant Orders

DoorDash this week launched a new feature, DoubleDash, that lets users bundle items from different businesses like convenience stores together into a single transaction. DoorDash customers can add c-store items to their original restaurant order and checkout with a single transaction and no extra delivery fees, according to a company blog post.

DoubleDash is currently available for 7-Eleven, Walgreens, Wawa, QuickChek, and The Ice Cream Shop. It is also available for orders placed at DoorDash’s DashMart convenience store operation.

Customers placing a restaurant order can look for the DoubleDash option to add items from these stores. Available stores are indicated on the app inside the DoorDash app. Theoretically, orders from these different stores and restaurants are supposed to arrive at the same time, though a line at the bottom of today’s blog post notes that “deliveries may arrive separately.”

In certain cities, DoorDash is also offering DoubleDash for local restaurants. In these markets, users can add “complimentary items” from other restaurants to their existing order. 

All of this is further evidence that DoorDash is very serious about becoming a go-to service for more than just restaurant food. Besides launching DashMart last year, the San Francisco-based company has also launched a grocery delivery service and has existing deals in place with some c-stores. As of this week, DoorDash is also said to be in talks to invest in Germany-based service Gorillas, which offers speedy grocery delivery from small “dark stores” located in dense residential areas.

At the end of last month, DoorDash also opened a new location of its ghost kitchen facility. For now, that operation only delivers restaurant food.

Kroger and Kitchen United Partner to Bring Ghost Kitchens to Grocery Stores

Kitchen United (KU) will expand its ghost kitchen network to include Kroger locations thanks to a just-announced partnership between KU and the grocery retailer. KU kitchens will be located at various Kroger locations, the first of these being at a Ralphs in Los Angeles slated to open this fall. 

Participating Kroger stores will house a KU location that includes “up to six local, regional or national” restaurant brands, according to today’s press release. Customers can order meals from these restaurants via the KU mobile app or onsite at a self-service kiosk. They will have the option to bundle items from different restaurant concepts together into a single order, a concept that KU’s Chief Business Officer Atul Sood recently said was technically complex but extremely important to the future of online ordering.  

While customers can choose to have their meal delivered (via KU’s third-party delivery service partners), the bigger appeal here might be the pickup option. Since the kitchens will be located onsite at stores, Kroger customers can order food while they shop for groceries and simply pick their meal up at the end of their trip.

The partnership is another example of the lines between the restaurant ghost kitchen and the grocery store fading. A year ago, Euromonitor predicted such a shift would happen. In keeping with that, the last several months have seen companies like GoPuff, Ghost Kitchens, and Food Rocket launch initiatives that sit squarely between the grocery and the ghost kitchen.

Moving towards this gray area is intentional on the part of KU. “We are proud to have launched a number of successful ghost kitchen centers across the country, and now we are applying our experience and taking steps to expand in non-traditional ghost kitchen formats such as retail shopping centers and food halls like our newest kitchen center location in Chicago alongside our efforts with Kroger,” Sood noted in a statement. 

He added that KU’s tech stack is an important part of this setup and can optimize “any kitchen setting for streamlined and profitable off-premise business.”

More KU-Kroger locations are planned for the coming months. In the meantime, those interested in learning more about ghost kitchens and the ghost kitchen tech stack can tune into The Spoon’s Restaurant Tech Summit on August 17. The virtual event will feature KU’s CTO Jessi Moss along with many other restaurants, tech companies, and thought leaders in the restaurant space. Grab a ticket here.

Estonia: Ride Hailing Startup Bolt Raises €600M to Get Into Grocer Delivery

Bolt, an Uber-like rideshare company based in Estonia, has raised €600 million (~$713M USD) to branch out into grocery delivery, CNBC reported today. New investors in the round include Sequoia and fund managers Tekne and Ghisallo, along with existing investors G Squared, D1 Capital and Naya. With its new funding, Bolt is now valued at roughly $4.75 billion.

Just like Uber, Bolt saw its ride hailing business decimated by the pandemic last year. Bolt told CNBC that while its ride hailing business has recovered, the company has seen dramatic growth in its grocery delivery business. The company operates 15-minute grocery delivery and has plans to roll the service out to 10 more European countries including Sweden, Portugal and Croatia over the next few months.

But as it does expand its grocery delivery footprint, Bolt will be facing a fiercely competitive, well-funded landscape. Europe in particular has been a hot spot for grocery delivery this past year, with a number of startups bulking up their warchests with hundreds of millions in new funding. Spanish startup Glovo has raised $1.2 billion, Turkey-based Getir has raised $1 billion, Czech-based Rohlik has raised $402 million, and Germany-based Flink has raised $304 million.

The big question now looming for all these services is whether they can economically scale, a matter complicated by the fact that services such as 15-minute grocery delivery are fast becoming a commodity. If there are half a dozen speedy grocery delivery services in a city, customers will likely gravitate towards the cheapest option. This race to the bottom is driving some speedy grocery delivery services here in the U.S. to diversify more into ghost kitchens and private label ready-to-eat meals.

It’s also worth noting that here in the U.S., Uber is investing more heavily in the grocery delivery space. The company recently acquired the remaining 47 percent of grocery delivery startup Cornershop, and partnered with Albertsons to offer grocery delivery in 400 U.S. cities.

Gopuff Confirms Latest $1B Funding Round

Gopuff announced today that it has raised another $1 billion in funding, confirming reports from last week of just such a round. New investors Blackstone’s Horizon platform, Guggenheim Investments, Hedosophia, MSD Partners, and Adage Capital joined with existing investors Fidelity Management and Research Company, Softbank Vision Fund 1, Atreides Management, and Eldridge in the round.

The new money comes just months after Gopuff raised $1.5 billion, in March of this year. With this new haul, Gopuff has now raised $3.4 billion in total and has a $15 billion valuation.

According to a press announcement emailed to The Spoon, Gopuff will use the new money fuel its geographic expansion across North America and further into the UK and Europe. Gopuff currently operates 450 facilities operating in more than 850 cities across the U.S.

Here in the U.S., Gopuff’s massive fundraising this year far surpasses the comparatively paltry sums raised by its speedy grocery delivery competition. JOKR is a distant second with $170 million, Fridge No More raised $15.4 million, Food Rocket raised $2 million and 1520 has raised an undisclosed seed round.

Gopuff will face more stiff competition as they spread across Europe. The speedy grocery delivery scene there is a little more mature — and better funded than their U.S. counterparts. Spain-based Glovo has raised $1.2 billion, Turkey-based Getir raised $1 billion, and Germany-based Gorillas has raised $335.4 million. (Side note: if you want to raise funding for you speedy grocery delivery startup, start your company name with the letter “G.”) And that doesn’t include all the other players like Flink, Weezy, and Jiffy.

But Gopuff isn’t just expanding its footprint. The company is also branchig beyond straight up grocery delivery and into pre-made meals. Gopuff officially launched Gopuff Kitchen last week, and is already serving hot pizza, chicken tenders, salads, coffees and more in cities like Austin, Miami, Nashville, Philadelphia, Phoenix, and San Antonio.

The speedy grocery delivery started in earnest this year. And with $2.5 billion raised in the past six months, Gopuff has armed itself to try and finish them.

Speedy Delivery Grocer 1520 Knows There’s a Lot of Competition (and Where that Competition is Headed Next)

The startup 1520 got its name from its value proposition — to deliver grocery orders to customers in 15 to 20 minutes. The company is not alone in that mission, especially in its hometown of New York City, where a number of fast grocery delivery services have launched this year. Two of those services have raised more than $100 million dollars each. But 1520 co-founders Oleg Shevlyagin and Moucheg Sahakian aren’t too worried about the competition, and have developed their own plan to stand apart from (and stay ahead of) other speedy delivery startups.

Before co-founding 1520, Shevlyagin and Sahakian both worked at Russian tech giant Yandex, where they launched the first three such speedy grocery stores for that company. The two brought that experience with them when they started 1520 in Manhattan in January of this year.

Like others in the space, 1520 operates a number of small, delivery-only grocery stores that carry a limited inventory and have a small delivery radius. The company now serves everything below 96th St. (for those New Yorkers who know what that means), and is eyeing expansion to Long Island City, Jersey City and Hoboken, New Jersey.

During a video chat with Shevlyagin and Sahakian this week, I asked them about the proliferating number of speedy delivery startups and what that means for 1520. “I don’t think that competition adds too much pressure,” Shevlyagin said, “You have 40 grocery chains in New York alone. We have four players in this ultra-fast space.”

Operationally speaking, Shevlyagin said that 1520 is different from other speedy delivery startups in a few ways. First, the company operates slightly smaller dark stores that are only 1,500 to 2,000 sq. feet, compared with the 2,500 to 3,000 sq. ft. stores other services run. Despite these smaller stores, 1520 has a slightly larger delivery radius than its competition. Most speedy services have a delivery radius between 1 and 1.5 miles. Shevlyagin said 1520’s delivery radius is between 2 and 2.5 miles.

This larger delivery radius in turn means more customers. As a comparison, fellow speedy delivery startup Food Rocket says that one of its stores serves 50,000 households, whereas one 1520 store services 90,000 households. It’s hard to say that bigger is better in this scenario. What you gain in footprint, you could lose in speed. Food Rocket delivers in 10 minutes, while 1520 is 15 to 20 minutes. That may not sound like much, but if you’re in the business of treating groceries like an on-demand utility, those extra minutes might cost you extra business.

But Shevlyagin also says 1520 is different from other speedy delivery startups in more existential ways, too. “GoPuff and DashMart are running [a] convenience store rather than full-blown grocery,” Shevlyagin said, “For them it would be more like you are running out of beer and snack. For us, it’s ‘I want to cook my dinner tonight.'”

As such, Shevlyagin said that 1520 is focused on high-quality fresh food and produce. “We do believe urban customers are more concerned about their health,” Shevlyagin said, “They want produce rather than chips and a Coke.” I’m not sure if that’s entirely true. I mean, who doesn’t love the idea of a late night pint of ice cream delivered to your door in minutes? But 1520 is certainly choosing a lane with its fresh food approach.

There are ways in which 1520 is very much like others in the rapidly evolving fast grocery delivery space. Similar to Food Rocket and DashMart, 1520 is moving into ready-to-eat meals, and will offer its own line of sandwiches, salads and microwaveable meals.

Unlike others in the space, 1520 has yet to raise a massive amount of funding. Germany-based Gorillas raised $290 million prior to its U.S. expansion, and New York City-based JOKR just raised $170 million to fuel its own growth.

Shevlyagin said that 1520 has so far raised a Seed round of funding. I asked him if his competition’s now-sizeable warchests were a big concern for him. Shevlyagin was rather matter-of-fact, saying, “As any other venture-backed startup, we will have to raise at some point, probably in the next two to six months.”

But the funding issue also matters as these companies look to expand and gain first-mover advantage in new cities, since there are only so many cities in the U.S. with dense enough populations to support speedy grocery. I asked Shevlyagin how 1520 will roll out to stay ahead of its rising competition. “The real estate world is the biggest barometer,” he said, explaining that they look at real estate listings to see where dark store type spaces are being leased, and by whom. “We know what’s happening in every city in the country.”

Even if other players get to one of 1520’s target markets first, Shevlyagin doesn’t appear too concerned. “It still takes you some time to make sure your supply chain works well,” he said. “We are deep in discussions with other cities. We still have this time.”