DELIVERING CHANGE |

How Food Delivery Programs Can Transform Lives

In partnership with Amazon, Feeding America, and Diana Jensen Consulting
Services, Burke, Inc. conducted research to better understand the impact
of collaborating with a third-party delivery partner for food assistance
organizations to increase access to vital groceries for vulnerable populations.

Learn more about this breakthrough research and how expanding access to
critical food assistance not only saves participants time and money, but
contributes to their emotional and physical well-being.

DELIVERING CHANGE |

How Food Delivery Programs Can Transform Lives

In partnership with Amazon, Feeding America, and Diana Jensen Consulting Services, Burke, Inc. conducted research to better understand the impact of collaborating with a third-party delivery partner for food assistance organizations to increase access to vital groceries for vulnerable populations.

Learn more about this breakthrough research and how expanding access to critical food assistance not only saves participants time and money, but contributes to their emotional and physical well-being.

Food delivery programs play a vital—and growing—role in reducing food insecurity.

Yet, food assistance programs that provide home delivery of free groceries have been relatively rare compared to other models. While the pandemic drove an increase in drive-through food distribution and expanded delivery services, a variety of factors have since led many community partners to retire their delivery services. Current home-delivered grocery programs are often operated by food banks, food pantries, other community nonprofits, or public agencies.

Therefore, Amazon sought to deepen the field’s understanding of the impact of home delivery support for grocery box food assistance.

To better understand the future opportunities in the area of free grocery delivery assistance, download the full report below.

RESEARCH OVERVIEW

Qualitative research consisted of:

Two 90-minute focus groups with 13 food delivery partners in the U.S.
30-minute in-depth interviews with 13 individuals who receive regular home delivery from Amazon through food delivery program partnerships

Quantitative research consisted of:

a 15-minute survey that was conducted in the U.S.
total of 809 (n=402 for delivery and n=407 for pickup) representative food bank delivery users

Research was conducted for Feeding America by Diana Jensen and Burke, Inc. and was commissioned by Amazon.

The reasons people seek out home-delivered grocery programs:

Convenience and reduced stigma:
Nearly half of delivery participants cited convenience as a key reason for enrollment, with younger participants (ages 18-34) particularly valuing reduced stigma in receiving food assistance through delivery rather than pickup.
Essential for food security:
Delivery programs were critical for many, with 27% of delivery participants saying they would not be able to access groceries otherwise, a number that jumps to 35% for families with children.

How the delivery program experience compares to picking up free groceries:

Cost and time savings
It costs most families sampled $105-$180 per month to visit food banks. For households that earn less than $25,000 per year, this represents upwards of 9% of total annual household income.
Barriers to access:
Lack of reliable transportation (49%), difficulty attending pickup programs during operating hours (48%), and health conditions preventing people from leaving home (50%) were major reasons people enrolled in delivery programs.

The impact of the delivery service for program participants:

Emotional and psychological benefits:

Delivery program participants reported significant emotional benefits, including reduced stress (72% vs. 62% in pickup programs), increased sense of independence (68% vs. 56%), and improved self-confidence (60% vs. 53%).

Improved wellbeing:

Delivery participants reported feeling healthier (66% vs. 60% in pickup programs), likely due to greater ease in maintaining commitments such as work and healthcare, and saving time from not having to pick up groceries.

The impact of partnering with a third-party delivery partner for food assistance organizations

Opening New Doors

Staff at organizations that run food delivery programs told us that the support of third-party delivery partners with robust last-mile delivery capacity has significantly shifted the scale of programming they can provide. In some cases, the partnership makes it possible to offer home delivery services at all.