Farmstead greenlights autonomous vehicle delivery pilot

Online retailer Farmstead has partnered with Udelv to test deliveries via autonomous vehicle in the San Francisco Bay Area, making it one of the first grocers in the country to do so.

Customers are notified when the vehicle pulls up to their door. They then tap a code via SMS. A dedicated compartment opens up, and the customer picks up his or her bagged groceries. Once empty, the compartment closes and the vehicle is routed to its next delivery.

“While many services have talked about making deliveries via autonomous vehicles, Farmstead is actually doing it,” says Farmstead CEO and Co-founder Pradeep Elankumaran.

“We envision a future where autonomous delivery is the norm in our space rather than the exception. This technology will help us be more efficient,, enabling us to get fresh groceries into our customers’ homes even faster and cheaper than before. Customers who have already experienced our autonomous vehicle delivery have been blown away – with Udelv’s help, we can’t wait to bring it to all our service areas.”

Udelv CEO Daniel Laury comments: “Farmstead moved quickly to take advantage of the benefits of autonomous vehicle delivery – we were able to get our pilot up and running in just a few weeks. We’re really excited to be working with such an innovative partner, as we think grocery delivery is a perfect use case for Udelv’s self-driving vans – getting fresh and sometimes delicate items to customers quickly”.