The explosion of e-commerce demand during the pandemic has caught brick-and-mortar grocers by surprise. As they labor to add workers, open up fulfillment slots and, in some cases, come online for the first time, many of their shoppers are drifting to online startups.
Imperfect Foods, a company that specializes in low-price produce, has seen its active customer base grow by more than 40% this year, according to CEO Philip Behn. It’s rapidly expanding its operations in response and bringing in new items for shoppers like organic meat, cheese trays and popcorn snacks.
