PineMelon Founder Talks Expansion
PineMelon, an online grocery delivery service that works to bring farmers' market fare to the ecommerce channel, has expanded into the Boulder, Colorado market.
“While local farmers' markets are an essential part of our community, we recognize that they can sometimes be challenging for shoppers and farmers to get to,” Alexey Lee, CEO at PineMelon, told SFA News Daily. “We’re addressing that challenge by bringing the farmers' market to our customers’ doorsteps year-round.”
First launched in Denver in 2022, the service taps local farmers, ranchers, and producers to offer more than 6,000 products made with organic ingredients for delivery within two hours. The expansion into Boulder enabled the service to enter Colorado’s second-largest market while serving a community that the team identified as desiring high-quality, locally sourced products.
The service features local makers including Masa Seed Foundation, a nonprofit farm growing climate-resilient seeds, and Grama Grass, a first-generation rancher growing a grass-fed and finished beef business in Boulder County.
“Our mission is deeply rooted in helping to grow the number and share of local food makers in the food system,” said Lee. “We’re a farm-to-community movement that strives to provide a healthier, tastier, and more sustainable way of living.”
Lee said that emerging makers looking to start their journey through farmers' markets must believe in their product and work to improve their brand presence. He added that the channel offers the perfect opportunity to build one’s brand and get customer feedback on the look, feel, quality, and taste of an offering. He also gave advice to local makers looking to work with PineMelon.
“For [those] entering the ecommerce world through PineMelon, remember that people eat with their eyes—so it's important to invest in packaging that aligns with your brand identity and vision for your brand.”
Lee also discussed how he endeavors to support small businesses with the service by relieving the time, distance, and cost barriers that these producers face when selling to their communities.
"PineMelon plays a vital role in helping to bridge the gap between small-scale local food producers and a broader, urban audience, something that historically, has been a challenge or even an impossibility for us as producers," said Julia Wolfe, general manager at Grama Grass, in a statement.
For PineMelon, sustainability is at the fore. The service uses recyclable paper bags and an order-grouping model that allows it to create more efficient delivery routes to minimize its carbon footprint. The plastic that it uses in its packaging is also biodegradable. Additionally, the grocery delivery platform prioritizes products that are regeneratively grown.
“Working closely with farmers like James Ranch Beef, Flying B Bar, and Grama Grass, we ensure that over 60 acres of local regeneratively farmed land are dedicated to growing the food we deliver,” said Lee. “This approach…is about restoring and enhancing ecosystem health. By focusing on soil regeneration, increasing biodiversity, and improving the water cycle, we're making a positive impact on our environment.”
When asked about future growth expectations, the CEO remarked on its urban focus.
“Longer-term, we have goals to continue expanding to other markets as we believe there’s an immense opportunity to make a difference in even more mid-sized cities,” he said.