After Amazon acquired Whole Foods, the grocer’s presence on Instacart became an early casualty. The companies worked together as far back as 2014, but Instacart eventually found itself competing with Amazon’s own grocery-delivery ambitions. In Canada, however, Whole Foods is back on Instacart, with its own storefront on Instacart.ca.

Amazon’s Whole Foods working with Instacart in Canada

Instacart announced the new addition to its app and website on Feb. 7, including delivery availability for 14 Whole Foods Market stores in the Vancouver, Victoria, Toronto and Ottawa metro areas.

Amazon ranks No. 1 in the Top 1000, Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of the largest North American online retailers. Amazon is also No. 3 in Digital Commerce 360’s Global Online Marketplaces Database, which ranks the 100 largest such marketplaces by 2023 third-party gross merchandise value (GMV).

“Our mission at Instacart is to create a world where everyone has access to the food they love, and working with beloved retailers like Whole Foods Market helps us make that mission a reality,” said Chris Rogers, chief business officer at Instacart, in a released statement. “With this launch, we’re proud to welcome Whole Foods Market Canada to the Instacart marketplace, making same-day delivery in as fast as 30 minutes available to their loyal Canadian customers.”

Whole Foods on Instacart availability

Whole Foods, meanwhile embraced the delivery option, framing it as a win for customers.

“We strive to create the best shopping experience for our customers both in stores and online, including finding ways to provide convenience without sacrificing quality,” said Rick Bonin, senior vice president of operations at Whole Foods Market. “We’re excited to work with Instacart in Canada to provide our shoppers with a quick and easy way to get their favorite high-quality foods and products delivered directly to their doorstep.”

The chain will look to benefit from access to tens of thousands of Instacart users in Canada as the deliveries begin, according to Instacart’s press release.

“Both companies are incredibly passionate about providing an exceptional experience to customers, and we’re excited to help Whole Foods Market make its fresh produce, pantry staples, and so much more available to millions of Canadians through Instacart,” said Rogers.

Participating locations

Initially, 11 Whole Foods stores will participate, and three more will follow. Instacart promotes delivery in as little as 30 minutes in some circumstances. Delivery for Whole Foods orders over 35 Canadian dollars will be free for Instacart+ subscribers.

In addition, Instacart touted the use of its recently announced artificial intelligence-based features for order recommendations, recently announced at CES. The app serves orders for groceries, as well as alcohol and prescriptions.

Do you rank in our databases?

Submit your data and we’ll see where you fit in our next ranking update.

Sign up

Stay on top of the latest developments in the ecommerce industry. Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 Retail News. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. Be the first to know when Digital Commerce 360 publishes news content.