This New Service Delivers Locally Grown and Produced Groceries

When the pandemic began, people were forced to rethink the way they shop for groceries. As grocery store shelves emptied and fears about COVID-19 grew, many turned to food delivery services and locally sourced goods. Now Pinemelon, a new service that combines those two trends, will launch on April 12.

Unlike many big-box grocery delivery services, Pinemelon will deliver locally grown and sourced groceries to people in the metro Denver area. While it will offer many household staples, it’s prioritizing Colorado suppliers like Frontiere Natural Meats, Pint’s Peak Ice Cream, Spring Born, Pasture Provisions, Rowdy Mermaid Kombucha, Justin’s Nut Butter, Chef Sherri Sauces, Celestial Seasonings and more.

Pinemelon CEO Alexey Lee chose Denver as its launch city for a few reasons. First, Denver showed a lot of similarities to Lee’s native home of Almaty, Kazakhstan, in terms of size, proximity to the mountains and an active population with a propensity to consume food grown and produced locally. Coloradans are also very educated, “which we know comes into play when making better-for-you food choices and understanding how the food chain operates,” explains Sarah Young, Pinemelon's director of marketing. The population of young growing families in Colorado “is the core audience of ours,” she adds.
The Pinemelon team is made up of both Coloradans and recent transplants. Together they spent months visiting and onboarding area farmers and food artisans. “Pinemelon builds relationships by committing to actually supporting local producers, growers and ranchers, not just selling their products,” Young explains.

Unlike many other services, Pinemelon has no third party involved, which cuts out surprise fees. If you spend $35, the delivery is free. Orders under $35 will be charged a flat fee of $4.95. Memberships, which include free delivery on all orders, start at $9.95 a month (or $49 bi-annually and $99 annually). Additionally, customers earn 1 percent cash back as MelonMoney on all purchases.

Pinemelon is a vertically integrated company: It owns all parts of the sourcing, purchasing and delivering. There is no brick-and-mortar store, so products go from the producer/distributor directly to a fulfillment center located near 58th Avenue and Broadway, not far from the intersection of I-25 and I-70. Orders will be handpicked and delivered by Pinemelon employees (not gig workers) in temperature-controlled cars.

The sign-up process is fairly simple. "It's as easy as sharing an email address or phone number and authenticating your information; then you’re ready to shop,” explains Young. Deliveries are available from 9.a.m to 9.p.m seven days a week. “We're offering delivery based on a roughly thirty-minute drive from the fulfillment center,” a range that includes Lafayette, Louisville and Superior to the north and parts of Central Park and Aurora to the east, she adds.

The Pinemelon app is available for both android and iPhone. For more information, visit pinemelon.com.