Adventures in internet grocery shopping.

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As mentioned in a previous post, I am lazy and unwilling to make multiple trips on foot or rent a vehicle in order to get my groceries. As my last two attempts ended in tragedy, I decided to forego a third order on Peapod and try a different service.

Enter Amazon Fresh.

I did not actually order ice cream in this order, which I immediately regretted once I received it. Unlike the Peapod order (which arrived in plastic grocery bags devoid of cold packs/dry ice pack for refrigerated items) there were plenty of ice packs (and dry ice packs) to keep the produce and frozen foods cold. They also used cold bags to further insulate anything cold.



 There was only one problem with the order- and that was how they packed the chemicals:


While I don't think anything leaked out onto the produce in that bag, it easily could have been the opposite. I did tell Amazon as much in the follow up email I sent them about my order. Costs for items in this order were on par (sometimes lower) than local grocers offering a similar service. Even with the treatment of chemicals in this order, I would probably order again from Amazon. I don't think I would do this (or other delivery services) if we were actually living here. Mainly because:

  •  we'd have a car if that were the case
  • I prefer shopping for produce and meats in person
  • selection is still not as wide as what you'd find in-store
  • there are still some things that show up cheaper in store due to sales,coupons,etc.
But, while we are here for training, I will probably keep using the service for big orders. And I would totally trust them delivering non-liquid ice cream. I would definitely recommend the service for folks PCSing and getting their groceries dropped off on day 1 of home leave. In that regard, it is a lot easier than placing a grocery order online (which a lot of grocers, and Walmart offer now) only to pick it up in store while you and the family are in full-on zombie jetlag PCS mode. If you decide to use this service, make sure it is offered in your area, because they are not offering the service everywhere in CONUS yet.

Happy internet grocery shopping!


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