The Defense Commissary Agency, DECA, has been planning for grocery delivery and it starts June 1 at 8 military bases.
In April, DECA awarded grocery delivery contracts to two veteran-owned companies. The pilot program will run through the summer, ending August 30th. After the contract award, the delivery companies integrated and tested their technology with the commissary grocery ordering system. The plan for the same-day delivery is that grocery delivery within 3 hours for orders placed Monday through Friday.
The contract for the eastern commissaries is ChowCall based out of Chesapeake, Virginia. The contract for the commissaries on the west coast is YouUp Delivery Inc, out of Roswell, Georgia.
East coast Commissaries participating in grocery delivery through ChowCall are:
– Fort Belvoir, Virginia
– Scott Air Force Base, Illinois
– Fort Bragg South Commissary, North Carolina
– MacDill Air Force Base, Florida
– Norfolk Naval Station, Virginia
West Coast Commissaries participating in grocery delivery through YouUp are:
-Fort Lewis, Washington
-Miramar Naval Air Station and San Diego Naval Station, California
The doorstep delivery cost is planned range between $3.80 and $4.15. This is much less than grocery delivery fees from big box stores. The plan is for delivery to be provided within a 20 miles driving distance from the commissaries. The hours of operation for delivery were not readily listed or available.
The co-founder of YouUp Delivery, Inc, Harold Earls is a retired captain from the Army. He remarked on his personal desire for convenience when it comes to grocery cost. He said he has specifically created his company with the goal to serve the military community, specifically through the commissary.
The CEO of ChowCall, Todd Waldemar, is a retired Marine. He currently works with restaurants on military bases and is excited about adding grocery delivery to their support.
The goal of both companies is to hire military spouses to work with the company to provide grocery delivery. Working for the delivery company will come with hourly wage plus tips. Per http://www.youup.us/hire, the hourly wage will be around $20 an hour. ChowCall is also hiring per their LinkedIn. That is quite a wage for grocery delivery, and much higher in comparison to other large companies that provide grocery and meal delivery around the U.S.
Like Click2Go, the commissary employees will still shop for the items that the military family desires from the store. Then the filled orders will be ready for pick up for the grocery delivery contractor. The application for grocery delivery will group the deliveries in the best and most efficient order.
The commissary provides about 20% cost savings in comparison to other grocery stores. Even with the few dollars grocery delivery fee, there will still be a grocery savings for military members.
The website for coordination of grocery delivery was not readily available at this writing. Will you use commissary grocery delivery?
Ms. Walsh,
Has there ever been discussion about retired DeCA employees having the commissary privilege? I retired from DeCA with 44 years in the commissary business and really enjoyed shopping my local commissary. I feel my time of service is enough to be considered for the privilege. Whom should I write to about this?
Since none of those commissaries are near me I have been doing some food shopping on Shopmyexchange.com website. Already I have ordered meat, cheese and fresh vegetables through that website. I’m very happy with them.
Nothing good ever happens at Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station commissary. When will it be our turn?