Tariff Troubles Kill BrightDrop Production
Schnucks & SNAP head to DoorDash, Starship hits 8 million, egrocery sales surge
We’re still coming down from the highs of Curbivore… but we’ll dive right into the week with plenty of big news from EV truckers, AV deliverers, major grocers and more.
Today:
Schnucks + SNAP Goes Live on DoorDash
Starship’s Eight Millionth Delivery
Chart Time | A Record March for Online Grocery Sales
GM Pauses BrightDrop Van Production
GROCERY | Schnucks Joins DoorDash’s SNAP Marketplace
DoorDash is continuing to deepen its marketplace of grocers that accept SNAP / EBT (aka food stamps,) as it kicks off a new partnership with Schnucks. The St. Louis, MO-based regional grocer has 114 stores across its home state, as well as Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. DoorDash has made a big push for SNAP users, working with payment providers like Forage, but that initiative may be under threat if the Trump Administration’s threats to cut food stamp funding go through…
The Big Picture: While low income shoppers will be out of luck, DoorDash may be able to weather the storm, as the 3PD has continued to grow its network of non-SNAP retailers as well. Its Canadian division just announced a partnership with Giant Tiger, a 200+ location discounter with an extensive grocery selection. The competition is still snapping up supermarkets as well; Instacart just signed a deal with another Missourian market: Dierbergs.
AV | Starship Hits Eight Million Deliveries
Sidewalk delivery bot player Starship just dropped off its eight millionth autonomous delivery. The Estonian-founded upstart managed to make its last million drop-offs in just six months, upping its pace from the previous milestone. Starship compares itself favorably to other big AV players, noting that Waymo has done just 5 million trips, while Zipline is at 1.45 million orders.
The Big Picture: The sidewalk delivery wars are getting hot again, with Coco Robotics announcing a new partnership with DoorDash (announced at Curbivore 2025!) Meanwhile, publicly listed Serve Robotics has just rolled into the Dallas-Fort Worth market.
CHART TIME | Online Groceries Hit $9.7 Billion
Online grocery sales jumped to $9.7 billion in March 2025, a 21% jump from the year prior, but down from February’s $10.3B haul. Brick Meets Click noted that delivery in particular is booming: up 30% YoY and now accounting for 43% of overall sales, up from just 26% in 2019.
VEHICLES | GM Halts BrightDrop Production Until Fall
General Motors is hitting the breaks on production of its all-electric BrightDrop delivery vans, with manufacturing paused until at least autumn. GM’s already had to cut the prices on the vans as competition ramps up; but the new tariff-related uncertainty means further production is unviable at this time, as the vans are made at the CAMI Assembly plant in Ontario, Canada. That was the OEM’s first plant to be converted to all-electric production, an expensive undertaking, but now analysts ask “If there’s a tariff with Canada, how do you build any vehicle of volume there to be sold in the U.S.?”
The Big Picture: Tariffs are continuing to destroy supply chains and trouble the economy. Elsewhere, truckloads are falling; ship fees are rising; the Chicago Fed is predicting panic buying followed by a slump; Temu is cutting back on ad spend; and DHL is halting deliveries on $800+ orders.
A Few Good Links
Deliveroo unveils white-label delivery solution for grocers. Cuts at HHS end protections against foodborne illnesses. FedEx & UPS competitors grow share. Chipotle to enter Mexico. Ackman urges Hertz to work with Uber on AVs — car renter was previously burned by EV push, but rising used car prices are temporarily strengthening its balance sheet. RoboSense unveils new Lidar. Hesai does too. Domino’s pushes half-off pizza. Tesla delays low-cost model. AV trucker Torc begins Texas testing. Wolt+ subscription comes for Deutsche Telekom members. iFood fights rumors. Uber and Instacart team on ad networks. Instacart adds solution for food service supply chain deliveries. Sweetgreen loses COO. Zipline expands partnership with Walmart.
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