Empire Expands Home Delivery Through Instacart, Uber Eats Partnerships
Sobeys parent company Empire Co. Ltd. is partnering with Instacart and Uber Eats to give Canadian customers added delivery options.
Ontario customers using the Instacart and Uber Eats apps will soon see Empire grocery banners Sobeys, Farm Boy and Longo’s when they shop. The move also lets Canadians order from discount chain FreshCo for the first time. A rollout across Canada will follow.
Empire said the partnerships complement its Voila e-commerce platform.
"We believe that Instacart and Uber Eats provide complementary services, offering customers access to multiple banners for their real-time grocery needs," Sarah Dawson, a spokesperson for Sobeys, told Financial Times, adding that Uber Eats and Instacart are designed for the customer seeking expedited order fulfillment.
The move follows Empire's decision to end its exclusive partnership with tech provider Ocado. There has been speculation that the partnership may signal trouble for Voila.
Empire's first quarter results for fiscal 2025 showed that Voila sales were up 26% year over year.
"We are excited to be expanding our e-commerce offering and continuing to grow the market. Through these new partnerships with Instacart and Uber Eats, Empire has expanded how customers can shop our banners, giving us access to a larger segment of the e-commerce market," Doug Nathanson, chief development officer at Empire, said in a news release. "We have proudly offered home delivery service to customers with our world-class Voila platform since 2020 and now expand our reach to give more customers more choices, faster."