Instacart, DoorDash and other companies offer discounts to SNAP recipients

Instacart said Friday it will offer customers who receive SNAP benefits 50% off their next grocery order to ease the pressure as the government prepares to cut food aid payments.

Instacart said any customer who placed an order in October using a SNAP/EBT card will be eligible for the rebate, which will be available even if the government makes payments as planned on Nov. 1. Instacart said it is also working to increase the number of food banks it supports with online food drives from 100 to 300.

Both programs amount to $5 million in direct relief, the San Francisco-based grocery delivery company said.

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“As SNAP funding faces unprecedented disruption and food banks brace for long lines, we are focused on practical, immediate solutions: helping families who use SNAP save their grocery dollars and helping food banks stock inventory to support their communities,” said Danny Dudek, chief corporate affairs officer at Instacart.

Instacart is one of several major companies reacting to the USDA’s plan to freeze payments for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program on November 1 due to the government shutdown.

Gopuff, a Philadelphia-based company that provides express delivery of food and other convenience items, said it will offer $50 worth of free groceries in November to customers who have a SNAP/EBT card linked to their Gopuff account. Jobov said she would spend up to $10 million on the program.

San Francisco-based DoorDash said it will waive service and delivery fees for an estimated 300,000 orders for SNAP recipients in November. DoorDash said Friday that 25 grocery companies, including Sprouts, Dollar General, Giant Eagle, Stop & Shop, Winn-Dixie, BJ’s Wholesale Club and ShopRite, are partnering with DoorDash to lower those fees.

DoorDash said it will also provide 1 million meals from food banks for free. The company said more than 2.4 million of its customers have a SNAP/EBT card linked to their DoorDash account.

Zip Co., a “buy now, pay later” app that lets users set up installment plans to pay for purchases, said Friday it will offer temporary, no-fee installment payment options for SNAP recipients who need help with grocery shopping if the government doesn’t make payments on Nov. 1. Eligible customers need to fill out a form in the Zip app, the company said.

Zip, based in Australia, said it has partnered with Forage, a company that processes government payments for retailers. Zip said it has 4.25 million active users, but did not specify the number of SNAP recipients.

Instacart does not disclose how many of its customers receive SNAP benefits. The company began accepting SNAP payments online in 2020. It offers discounted memberships for SNAP recipients and zero delivery fees for orders over $35.