Grocery Service

Because grocery shopping at 11pm, after getting the baby back to sleep is far more convenient than I ever imagined it could be.

One of the things I never really experimented with before moving to Texas was grocery service. It seemed expensive and out of reach. When I moved in with my husband after immigrating to the US I discovered that he regularly used a grocery service and was justifying the savings of time, gas, and mental energy (we’re both quite reclusive people). So this prompted me to try a few different services.

The first service I tried was Greenling . I loved the farm-to-table aspect of this service and while portion sizes were small for the price, they managed to include some great recipes in their delivery. Unfortunately at the time, the service was not thriving in the Dallas area and they pulled out to focus on Austin and other markets. This left me with a green bin that I paid a deposit on, and searching for a new service.

The next service I found in my area was Artizone . Now here was a service I really enjoyed! I was able to order supermarket items as well as local made specialty items like cheeses, desserts, and jams. They delivered promptly, well packages, well priced, and always gave me the option to tip my delivery person. Unfortunately I moved outside of their delivery area when we moved into our house and within 6 months of that they had closed the business.

So what’s left? Well I gave up delivery service for a long time. Things like Blue Apron, and Hello Fresh, and other meal delivery services were not quite what I was looking for.
Amazon began their ‘pantry’ option but it didn’t fit either.

So a few weeks ago I took a look at the Amazon FRESH program offered to prime members and signed up for the free trial.
So far, it’s doing the job quite nicely. It’s no farm-to-table shopping but it does save me a trip to the grocery store and when you’ve been three times already this week for wipes- then formula- then toilet paper – all because you didn’t know you needed one or the other until you were out, well, having the chance to sit down and make my shopping list, do meal planning for the week, and have my order delivered the next morning is hard to argue with.

I just placed my third order while my son slept. When he fussed I was able to comfort him back to sleep, and then come back to my order and submit.
The first order was packaged professionally. Reusable cooler bags (no deposit required), ice packs and dry ice. Delivery was prompt and I was impressed.
The second order I placed was haphazardly thrown together in paper bags with ice packs on top, missing items from the order, and despite asking for unattended drop off the delivery person rang the doorbell waking my napping child.
So I am curious to see how this third time goes. I am not opposed to getting into the car and driving over to do my shopping if this service offers more hassle than convenience but it sure would be nice if it fit into our lives.