Spud.ca Opens the First Fresh Food Delivery Platform Facility in Canada

Proprietary technology provides sustainable e-commerce solution

Vancouver, Sept. 20, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Sustainable Produce Urban Delivery Inc. (“Spud”), today announced the launch of Canada’s first fresh food delivery platform facility, Food-X. The 74,000 square-foot warehouse facility utilizes proprietary technology to provide sustainable home food delivery for local and national grocery retailers. The launch of the platform introduces an e-commerce grocery delivery solution that can be leveraged globally.

“Food-X leverages technology and industry experience honed over the past 20 years under Spud, which provides a sustainable home food delivery service to third-party retailers,” said Peter van Stolk, CEO of Food-X and Spud.  “We know that sustainability works better when we can share resources and utilize technology. Food-X allows retailers to share warehouse space, infrastructure and delivery trucks so there are fewer vehicles on the road per order. Think of Food-X as carpooling for your groceries.”

First-of-its-kind technology developed by Spud’s in-house team includes Rapid Pack Algorithm that decreases packing time along with wasted space in packed orders, picking software that uses AI to deliver instructions to warehouse packers, and proprietary delivery route optimization software that utilizes real-time data with an end goal of lowering retailers’ overall carbon footprint. These technologies enable Food-X to deliver fresh food for their retail customers across Metro Vancouver faster, more sustainably and with less plastic. Similar technology-based solutions have helped Spud lower their food waste to 0.5%, the lowest of any grocery store in Canada.

“Sustainability will always be at the heart of Food-X and our unique platform offers a better, faster and more efficient fresh food delivery service,” said van Stolk. “We’re excited to offer our innovative retailers, like our launch partner Walmart Canada, a sustainable food delivery solution, and smaller independent grocers an option to scale online.”

“The Food-X platform will enable Walmart Canada to launch sustainable grocery delivery making it easier for Metro Vancouver families to get their groceries however and whenever they want,” said Daryl Porter, vice president, omni-channel operations and online grocery at Walmart.

Once the Burnaby facility is operating at full capacity, Food-X plans to employ 500 team members in roles as diverse as tech, customer service, business development, operations and finance which will support its national expansion. In the coming months, Food-X will service more retailers at their first facility, with plans to scale globally in the coming years.

For more information, visit: www.foodx.ca.

About Food-X
Food-X is a food delivery platform that allows multiple retailers to access industry-leading technology, warehousing, food preparation and delivery services. The company is able to consolidate orders from all of its customers onto fewer trucks, thereby reducing the environmental impact for everyone. Food-X’s first location opened in Burnaby, B.C. in 2018 and plans to open locations across Canada through 2019 and beyond. Food-X is part of the Sustainable Produce Urban Delivery Inc. (Spud) integrated food business eco-system that includes online retail, community retail locations, commissary/food preparation services and distribution. For more information, visit www.foodx.ca.

About Spud 
Founded in 1997 in Vancouver, Sustainable Produce Urban Delivery Inc. has expanded into one of the largest online grocery companies in Canada, employing over 700 people across all its markets delivering fresh, local, organic produce and groceries. With a mission of changing the world one bite at a time and passion for a sustainable food system, Spud’s goal is to use its connection to local and organic food to help improve the places where we live and work. From this vision, Be Fresh Local Market was proudly cultivated by Spud, with the first store opening in Vancouver’s Kitsilano neighbourhood in 2015. Be Fresh currently serves five local communities in Vancouver. In 2017, Blush Lane Organic Market joined the Spud family supporting Edmonton and Calgary across five locations. Spud is a leader in Western Canada’s local and organic food movement. For more information, visit www.spud.ca.

About Walmart
Walmart Canada operates a growing chain of 410 stores nationwide serving more than 1.2 million customers each day. Walmart Canada’s flagship online store, walmart.ca is visited by more than 750,00 customers daily. With more than 85,000 associates, Walmart Canada is one of Canada’s largest employers and is ranked one of the country’s top 10 most influential brands. Walmart Canada’s extensive philanthropy program is focused on supporting Canadian families in need, and since 1994 Walmart Canada has raised and donated more than $300 million to Canadian charities. Additional information can be found at walmartcanada.ca, facebook.com/walmartcanada and at twitter.com/walmartcanada.

Media contact
Kelsi Carleton
Talk Shop Media
kelsi@talkshopmedia.com
(604) 738-2220