Whether you love going to the grocery store or absolutely loath the task, all of us experience those are days when finding time to shop is simply impossible.
Maybe for you, this happens a couple times a month or every single week.
No matter how often you need them, grocery delivery services can be a lifesaver. Here are our absolute favorite grocery services that offer a little something extra for the plant-based, health-conscious eater.
And if you’re not a fan of cooking at all, check out our list of the best plant-based meal delivery services for complete meals delivered to your door.
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The Best Delivery Services for Vegans and Vegetarians
Grocery delivery services are becoming more and more common, with local options sometimes even outnumbering the wider-known ones. But finding a service that offers the things that are most important to you, like quality produce, earth-friendly products, and healthy alternatives, can still be a challenge.
Here are our favorite grocery delivery services that are widely available across the country and have offerings with plant-based consumers in mind.
1. Thrive Market
- Website: https://thrivemarket.com/
- Fees: Free shipping on orders over $49, otherwise $5.95 per order
- Membership: Required for service, $60 annually or $9.95 per month
- Delivery Timeframe: 2 to 3 days
If finding earth-friendly, organic products is a big part of your shopping routine, then you’ll love what Thrive Market provides.
The goal of this grocery delivery service is to bring natural, organic, and healthy grocery staples to your door at a lower price than you will find at the grocery store. Many of the items available are exclusive Thrive products, but they also carry the earth-conscious brands you know and love.
Much like Costco, your membership gives you exclusive access to discounted products. In fact, the company is so sure that you will save money that they will actually add the amount of your membership as a credit on your account if you haven’t saved at least that much over the course of the year.
In the realm of companies working for good, Thrive is easily one of the best. For every paid membership, the company gifts a membership to a low-income family, student, teacher, or essential worker. Plus, they offer carbon-neutral delivery.
In our opinion, the only downside of this service is their products are limited to pantry staples, supplements, beauty products, and cleaning supplies. They do not sell any perishable products like produce or bread. They do, however, offer a long list of plant-based and vegan-friendly snacks and dry goods.
2. Instacart
- Website: https://www.instacart.com/
- Fees: free delivery for members on orders over $35, starting at $3.99 for non-members
- Membership: $99 per year or $9.99 per month
- Minimum: $10
- Delivery Timeframe: Usually the same day
Instacart is more of a traditional grocery shopping service. You can pick from a list of stores available in your area and build your shopping list based on their inventory. Your personal Instacart shopper will then do the legwork for you, texting about substitutions or out-of-stock issues as they go.
The company has formed partnerships with most of the large grocery retailers including the big-box membership stores. They do not have a partnership with Whole Foods or any other specific organic/natural national company, but they do have many local, small business partnerships with similar type stores.
One of the biggest advantages of Instacart is that you can basically outsource all of your grocery shopping via one app.
Your shopper will pick up items from multiple grocery locations, Petsmart, and even the pharmacy, and deliver your entire list in one trip. If your schedule is tight, this is absolutely the company to go with.
In addition to the convenience factor, most of the shoppers will accommodate earth-friendly requests, like limiting the use of plastic bags or skipping bagging altogether.
3. Amazon Fresh
- Website: https://www.amazon.com/alm/storefront?almBrandId=QW1hem9uIEZyZXNo
- Fees: $10 delivery fee for orders under $35 (or $50, depending on where you live)
- Membership: Included with Amazon Prime membership
- Minimum: $35 (for free delivery)
- Delivery Timeframe: 2 to 3 hours
If you currently have Amazon Prime, then you have a great opportunity to get Whole Foods groceries delivered to your door for free by signing up for Amazon Fresh.
This service works in much the same way as Instacart but utilizes the Amazon ordering interface that you are likely already familiar with. This makes finding the products you need especially simple. You can browse by category or search by brand and product photos and descriptions mean you can find exactly what you need.
Because Amazon owns Whole Foods, the bulk of the products available are from this natural and organic retailer. But Amazon also partners with many other local retailers that differ by city.
You can select from a long list of dry goods, produce, perishables, beauty supplies, supplements, and more.
As of the moment of this publication, new Amazon Fresh customers may experience some delay in membership activation due to increased demand due to COVID-19. There also seems to be some new restrictions in regard to order hours.
4. Shipt
- Website: https://www.shipt.com/home/
- Fees: $7 delivery fee for orders under $35
- Membership: $99 per year
- Minimum: Delivery is free for orders over $35
- Delivery Timeframe: As quick as 1 hour
Shipt is another service very similar to Instacart, but with partner stores that give them a different appeal.
They have an exclusive partnership with Target but also team up with stores like Office Depot, Costco, Petco, and other local options. While your options for vegan groceries may be more limited with this service (depending on where you live), you will certainly save more time by consolidating your other store runs, such as those for the dog and for office supplies, into a single order.
Like Instacart, you will receive text updates from your personal shopper, and can even use text to add last-minute, forgotten items to your list. Best of all, shoppers are available any time your local stores are open–meaning you can order groceries in the middle of the night if your local Target happens to be open 24 hours a day.
Before you choose which service you’ll use to make your grocery shopping life easier, make sure to check with the company regarding service area restrictions.
5. FreshDirect
- Website: https://www.freshdirect.com/
- Fees: delivery starting at $5.99, depending on your location
- Membership: Not needed, but you can opt for DeliveryPass for $129 per year
- Minimum: $30
- Delivery Timeframe: One day or more
FreshDirect is similar to the personal shopper services listed above in that you can get a wide variety of items from fresh produce, frozen foods, and household goods, but the company is set up more like Thrive Market.
All of the items you order on the FreshDirect website come from the company’s warehouses and are shipped directly to you. They work directly with farmers and suppliers to get fresh products straight from the source, a practice that guarantees fresher food and helps cut down on transportation.
FreshDirect does not market specifically to any one kind of diet, but they are constantly growing their supply of vegan and plant-based products. They also have a ton of gluten-free and organic items to choose from. You can also opt for a “farm share” box which includes local eggs, dairy, and veggies from nearby farms.
At the moment, this service is limited to certain areas of the east coast. But for those of you within the delivery zone, this is one grocery service that is a no-brainer. There are no membership or sign-up fees and absolutely no commitments. Just order whenever you need and schedule a time to receive your box straight from the FreshDirect refrigerated truck.
6. Vegan Essentials
- Website: https://veganessentials.com/
- Fees: Delivery and cold box charges may apply
- Membership: None
- Minimum: None
- Delivery Timeframe: 1 to 4 days
If you love the idea of FreshDirect but want to support a vegan-only company, you will love Vegan Essentials.
This online grocery store only carries certified vegan food and home products, including a huge selection of cruelty-free meat and dairy substitutes. While they do not carry produce or frozen items, but they do sell refrigerated products.
The site works similar to any online retailer. Simply pick your items, check out, and wait for your box to arrive. Shipping usually does not take long, but boxes with cold items can only be shipped to arrive before Friday and may be delayed if you order too late in the week. You will also be responsible for covering the cold-pack and cold-shipper box costs if your order contains refrigerated products.
Because this site has no membership fees, contracts, or minimum order requirements, it is a great company to keep in mind for those times when you are struggling to find good vegan products locally or just need to restock the pantry with animal-friendly essentials.
One Parting Note
While the direct-ship options listed above are available anywhere FedEx and UPS deliver, the personal shopper programs are generally limited to larger cities and may not be available in your area.
Before you choose which service you’ll use to make your grocery shopping life easier, make sure to check with the company regarding service area restrictions.
